Savin' Me
by FiveInTheMorn
Summary: Lincoln gets injured while saving someone else's life, and his sisters wonder what they can do in return for him. He is a hero, after all, and considering everything he's ever done for them, he's due for some good fortune.
1. An Angel

**A/N: Lincoln needs a story where his efforts are actually rewarded. There are probably quite a few of these stories out there, but this kid deserves it. As such, here is me throwing my own hat into the ring. The chapters shouldn't be too long and should get the point across by each one's end. The first 2-3 chapters will be the event and immediate aftermath, while the rest of the chapters will each focus on a certain sister doing something for or spending time with Lincoln.**

**Also, I looked it up, and Royal Oak, the city Royal Woods is based off of, is actually fairly close to Detroit. It's less than thirty minutes away by car. Unless I've missed the episodes where they do reference it, it amazes me that the show hasn't acknowledged how close the two places actually are to each other. As such, I decided to take the time to rectify that in this story and give the motor city some dues.**

**Hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon. **

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Today was a day that was highly unusual for the Loud family. Rather than spending the day doing their normal activities at their house, their parents made the half-hour drive to take them to downtown Detroit. Now, this alone was a very odd thing. Sure, Royal Woods was considered a suburb of the city, being no more than a half-hour drive away, but there was never any real reason for any of them to go to the city. Luna and Luan were both too young to perform in any underground clubs and venues, and the crime rate scared off potential bookings for inner-city school tournaments, so Lori didn't golf on any of the courses down there, Lucy never went to any poetry cafes, and Lola didn't go to any pageants held there. The only person who would have legitimate reason to go down there was Lynn because of her sports fixations. Only problem was that, aside from her parents not wanting to spend so much taking the kids to games and her being preoccupied with her own sports ambitions, the teams in the city weren't the greatest at the moment. The Lions and Tigers are teams that are the butt of many jokes when it came to their respective sports while the Pistons and Red Wings haven't been truly competitive for at least almost a decade.

Today was different, though. With the recent uptick in revitalization efforts going on across the city, the city had organized a festival to celebrate the continuous rebirth of the city, and the parents thought it would be good to show some hometown pride by taking the family downtown to take part in the festivities (with the first stop being the food trucks).

The family was enjoying themselves, taking part in everything that the festival had to offer that interested them. Lincoln and Lana, for example, were salivating at the prospect of having some barbecue, something their dad never really made an effort to make. The moment they found a food truck that served it, they were prepared to pig out on ALL the pulled pork and brisket, the barbecue sauce they put on their food only amplifying their appetite. Even coming from a family that had a master of a cook in Lynn Sr., they never felt so satisfied after eating in their life.

Everyone else had their own interests. Lori, Leni, and Lola spent their time looking at the different racks of clothes a few family shops were selling. The names of the game here were sunglasses and scarves. Luna was caught up in the different music stores that were selling old records of bands she liked. She'd been meaning to get into vinyl and if she found a cheap record player, she was going to jump at it. Luan and Lucy, meanwhile, was caught up in the antiques collections a few places were selling, with Luan wondering if she wanted to give Mr. Coconuts some company while Lucy was curious about the haunted nature of a few different artifacts. Lynn was excited in that a few players on the different teams the city had were present at the festival as well, and she was able to get a few autographs from them. She was never going to wash that shirt again. Lisa didn't find much that would stimulate her intellect, so she just stuck close to her parents and Lily, where they were spending their time browsing through a collection of vintage reading material one stall was selling.

It was a legit good day for everyone. They all eventually met up and asked what everyone had done.

"Let's just say you don't need to worry about feeding Lana and me tonight." They both belched in unison, still rubbing their full bellies.

"Well, you literally don't need to worry about us going to the mall next week." Lori, along with Leni and Lola, held up the bags they had, full of clothes and accessories they found while browsing.

"I found myself one heck of a find for Mr. Coconuts. You could say it's quite im-PECK-able for him. Hahahahaha. Get it?" said Luan, holding up a small model of a bird she was going to hook onto her dummy's shoulder. It took everything in Lola's power to not take that bird and shove it right into her older sister's mouth to get her to shut up.

"I found myself a companion for Edwin when I'm not around." She pulled out a small bust of Griselda from her bag, something she bought from a stand run by a local sculptor.

"I'll be relishing in a few nineteenth century journals on mathematics for the next few weeks." Classic Lisa.

Everyone then looked over at the end of the table they were sitting at to see Lynn hugging herself and making cooing noises with her mouth, absolutely thrilled at how many players she got to sign the shirt she was wearing right now.

"Looks like we all had a good day, today" Lynn Sr. said with a proper sense of joy in his voice.

"Yeah. Thanks for bringing us, dad." Lincoln started the choir of thank you's that followed.

"No problem, kids. We haven't exactly done much in the way of showing some hometown pride. This seemed like a nice way to fix that."

"From a food point of view, it definitely did." Lana gave Lincoln a fist bump after she said that, both of them wearing the same kind of smile on their faces.

After some light discussion, the family decided to take a walk around the rest of the city to just take in the sights. It was daytime, so they weren't too worried about any crime taking place, especially with a festival happening in the city. The family never took the time to grow intimate with the city they lived the closest to, and since today was Saturday, they all didn't have anywhere they needed to be. A good time to take in the sights and bond.

Their trek took them to the usual big spots in the city, such as the Renaissance Center, the Fisher Building, Comerica Park, and Ford Field. When driving back home, they were going to make it a point to drive past a few other sites, like Michigan Central Station and the place where Tiger Stadium once stood.

They spent a good amount of time admiring the Renaissance Center, partly because it was the one thing everybody knew about Detroit and because a few of the sisters were insistent on checking out the on-site retail space. After more shopping, the family decided to make a trip back to the car to offload some bags.

They made it a couple blocks away from the building complex, doing their usual thing of simply chatting with each other about all kinds of things. The only person who wasn't actively engaged in the conversations was Lincoln, who hung back just a little bit to take in his surroundings. He remembered the "tour" Ronnie Anne took him on when he visited her in Great Lakes City and how he didn't get to see much of anything because of how indifferent she was about the city, and decided to not let the same thing happen again. It was in doing this that something caught his eye and made him stop walking.

Some girls, no more than Luna or Luan's age, were about to cross the street. Three of them, all on their phones. He looked to his left to see a car coming down the street after turning the corner, the driver on his phone, obviously texting someone. Judging from the speed the car was going, it was going to hit the first girl no question, maybe another as it was entirely possible the girl behind her would get nicked. The driver didn't seem to be aware that he was accelerating faster than he should on a street like this. Depending on how the driver hit the girl, at best, he would cripple her with major hip and leg injuries. At worst, she dies from any number of issues that come from getting violently hit by a car, such as blunt force trauma or internal bleeding. Almost unconsciously, he ran into the street without any worry about his own well-being, his family only now turning around after making it several yards away from him while caught up in their talking, too far to stop him from doing this.

He ran. Fast. His plan? Jump when he was close enough to push the girl back by her chest, leaving him to take most, if not all, of the injuries the car would cause. He hoped he planned this right. At best, only he is injured while the girls escape without any injuries. Worst case scenario, two, maybe three people would need to be transported to the hospital. He only wanted it to be one. Himself. And so, he ran, with neither the driver nor the girls noticing him. When he was close enough, he executed his plan.

He jumped, holding his arm out in front of him to push the first girl away right as the car reached them. She stumbled back while he felt himself getting rocked by the impact of the car, his legs, in particular, getting swung out from under him with a nice cracking sound. His family could only watch in horror as he tumbled from the hood to the roof of the car, before it suddenly breaked, making him roll back the other way, tumbling down the windshield and hood and finally hitting the ground, his final resting position being his body facing the sky. He was knocked out.

At that moment, it was entirely possible the world heard every sister and Rita scream at the top of their lungs "LINCOLN!"

No time was wasted before his family rushed to his aid. The girl he pushed back took time to get up and regain her bearings. Once she figured out what happened, she collapsed to the ground and cried as the realization of getting saved from being hit by a car fell onto her. Her friends cried right along with her as they tried to comfort her.

Lincoln was able to only partially regain consciousness at some point after the impact, his vision blurry and his ears picking up only mumbling when they weren't ringing so loud. He was aware of his parents and sisters' appearances enough to make out who was standing over him. He only saw his parents, Luna, Lisa, and Luan, as the rest of the girls were in bouts of hysteria outside of his field of vision.

If he was in pain, he wouldn't remember it. He passed in and out of consciousness two times before and ambulance finally came to take him to the hospital. The last things he heard before being loaded up in the ambulance were the cries of his family, hoping to God that he was okay. The last thing he saw, however, was the girl he saved sitting down in the same ambulance he was in, having gotten in under her own power. He passed out one more time, satisfied with the knowledge that his rescue attempt worked.

Whatever happened to him, at least he knew the girl was okay.

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**A/N: Like I said, fairly short but gets the point across. From now on, Lincoln's going to have a lot of love thrown his way.  
**

**And before anyone asks "Why didn't he just scream to get her attention?" there are several reasons why I went the heroic route. 1) This being a city, people's voices can drown others out, and 2) Lincoln, to me at least, comes across as an action guy, preferring the option that he knows will get the results he wants. This being in the heat of the moment, Lincoln simply wouldn't trust his luck that shouting would get her attention. He felt he needed to do, rather than say. **

**With all that said, thanks for reading, folks! I hope to see you all around next time for the aftermath of what happened. **


	2. Break The Ice

**Alright, for anyone who's read the title of the story and is thinking it, let's just get it out of our systems. *Clears throat***

_**Prison gates won't open up for me**_

_**On these hands and knees I'm crawling**_

_**Oh, I reach for you**_

**etc. etc.**

**Yes, that was completely necessary. Okay, now that that's out of our systems, welcome back to a story whose traction surprised me. Looks like people really appreciate seeing Lincoln be so selfless. Nice to know I'm not the only one. Now then, this chapter deals with the immediate aftermath of what happened, so we'll find out the extent of the damage Lincoln received and how he's dealing with all of it. Sorry if my lack of medical knowledge shines through here.**

**Just a heads up, this chapter is dialogue heavy, so if you like that, this chapter's for you. Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon.**

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Lincoln woke up to a bright light that he couldn't make out what it was from. His vision was still fuzzy and he didn't know where he was. All he knew was that there was beeping coming from his left side. He also had no movement, whatsoever, in both of his legs. While his vision may not have fully returned to him just yet, he started to piece together the events that put him where he was, so he closed his eyes and recollected.

He was in Detroit. He was there with his family attending a festival. They went sight-seeing. They were walking back to Vanzilla when he noticed a group of girls, on their phones, trying to cross the street. He also noticed a driver on his phone, as well. He ran out to save her and got hit himself.

Okay, the good news was that he didn't develop memory loss. His brain was left intact. It also clued him into where he was.

His vision eventually corrected to the point of him being able to see the heart rate monitor to his side and the two casts on his legs. He started to worry that his arms might have suffered the same fate, but to his relief, he had feeling in both of them and neither were causing him too much pain. The hit did the most damage to his legs and lower torso, evidenced by the extreme discomfort he felt in trying to roll over. If he tried taking deep breaths, he would feel some more pain in his back. He wasn't sure how his arms were spared, or his neck, for that matter, but he wasn't about to complain that he wasn't more injured in all of this. That is, until he started to feel a powerful throbbing coming from the back of his head.

He gave himself another look-over, seeing all of the damage that him being a hero had caused him. He simply let out a small laugh and resigned his head back down to his pillow, thinking to himself that this _would _happen to him, considering that he had grown used to bad things coming his way by this point in his life. He also started to wonder why he even did what he did in the first place. Sure, he felt someone was in trouble and they needed help, but nothing ever possessed him to go into full-hero mode at any other point in his life. Even when he dressed up as Ace Savvy, he never did something where he was willing to risk injury or, God forbid, his own life. Again, he let out a small breath that came out as a silent laugh as he said out loud "What the heck did I do?"

"You saved a person's life."

Lincoln looked to his right to see a doctor come into his room, his thoughts preoccupying him enough that he didn't notice someone opening the door to his room. He was a tall, black man with a low, kind of soothing voice. He reminded Lincoln of Clyde's dad, Harold, if he was taller and with less hair.

"Sorry. I probably should've introduced myself first before I said anything else. I'm Dr. Monroe. I'm the one you've been under the care of for the past couple of hours."

"Hours?"

"Yes." The doctor pulled up a chair to sit next to Lincoln. "Your actions caused the bones in your lower legs to develop fractures. You required surgery to repair them. The same goes for your back, as the back of your rib cage took a nasty hit as well."

Lincoln was taken aback by this, but not really all that surprised. He knew going in that his body had no chance of standing up to getting hit by a car that was accelerating. Frankly, he counted himself lucky that the damage wasn't worse. Still, no one wants to hear that they had broken bones, and Lincoln was no exception to that.

True to his nature, the first question he asked the doctor after he finished wasn't concerning himself, it was concerning the girl he saved. He didn't put himself in the hospital just so he could find out what it was like to have surgery to repair fractures in his bones. There was someone else in all of this.

"The girl. Is she here and is she okay?"

"She's fine. Your actions prevented her from getting anything worse than a few scrapes to her hands when she fell down."

Lincoln remembered seeing the girl climb into the ambulance with him, which reassured him when he passed out the last time, but bad discoveries can be found out when someone actually arrives at the hospital. He breathed easy that she really was okay after all this.

"Y'know, it's not everyday I get to be in the presence of someone like you. A real-life hero."

It still didn't sound right to him to be called that. When he went to save her, he was just acting on instinct. It wasn't his goal to be a hero, and yet here he was getting called one by somebody who probably saves more lives on a daily basis than he will in his whole life. Needless to say, he didn't know how to react.

"Uh…Thank you."

"No problem, son. Now, the reason I came here is to talk about the injuries you received. I've already discussed all of this with your family." Lincoln wanted to speak but the doctor stopped him. "Don't worry, they're all here. They went to go get some lunch a few minutes ago and should be back within the hour." Lincoln nodded. This guy was clearly used to being asked where a patient's family was.

"Now then, unsurprisingly, you had some severe damage in your legs. Your left leg developed a comminuted fracture, where the bone breaks into several pieces, and your left leg suffered a compound fracture, where the bone breaks through your skin." Lincoln breathed uneasy at this. One of the things that Lincoln hated in life was the idea of something breaking into or out of a person's skin. He was very thankful right now that he couldn't remember how painful it must have been. He could remember the ringing and the blurry images of his family trying to help him, as well as the girl. For him, that was enough.

"Yeah, it's not a pleasant thing to experience."

"What about my rib cage?"

"You're lucky it wasn't worse." Great. Nothing quite like being told 'You should be more injured than you actually are.' The doctor continued. "Apparently, the lower parts of your rib cage took a beating from when the car hit you. Since I wasn't there, I can only assume your lower back was hit after your legs. Is that correct?"

Lincoln had a bit of trouble recalling the memory. He had his eyes closed and stopped trying to think the moment his legs were hit, and his head hitting the windshield didn't help matters since that is what knocked him unconscious. He could only use his basic understandings of physics to help him reach the conclusion that yes, his lower back probably took a lot of damage if his legs were swung out from under him.

"I…can only assume so, too."

"You don't have to worry. The bruise on the back of your head clued us in that you may have been unconscious at some point. We checked your head first and you'll be pleased to know that there shouldn't be any long-term damage, just a temporary concussion."

No long-term head trauma. Good. At the very least, he could rest easy that he wasn't at risk of anything major as long as he took proper care of his head. But, there was still the matter of his rib cage.

"Now going back to your rib cage, as I said, your lower ribs were completely broken, and a few muscles that are located on the back of the rib cage called the levatores costarum muscles were damaged. I take it you've never heard of them before?"

Chances are good that if he can't pronounce it, he's never heard of it before. Lincoln just shook his head.

"Most people don't. They play a role in a person's ability to breathe. Have you noticed any trouble breathing since you woke up?"

"Only when I take deep breaths."

"That's to be expected. You should be able to recover from that, as well as the rest of this, time. You'll be in a wheelchair for a few months and you'll also need to wear a back brace, though."

Several months without walking. That sounded so foreign to Lincoln. There wasn't ever a time that he could remember not being able to walk somewhere. It's crazy how the smallest of things suddenly become so important when it's lost. He also thought about when the months were up, and he would have to train himself to fully walk again. A few months without walking meant his legs would be extremely weak the first time he attempted to stand on his own. At the very least, since no damage was done to his spinal cord, it wouldn't take as long to be able to do it again.

He simply laid his head back and resigned himself to all of this.

"I know it's difficult to hear all of this, but like I said, with time, you should be back to your regular self in no time. Plus, there was no damage done to your spinal cord, so instead of having to heal for, quite possibly, a few years, it should only take half of one, at most."

Boy, did he ever regret taking a simple action like walking for granted.

Going back to how long this was going to take, Lincoln was wondering what he was going to do while his body healed. He was probably going to get very bored very quickly. He knew that, at least, most of his sisters weren't cruel enough to try and ask favors of him while he was stuck in a wheelchair, unable to even walk, so his days were about to get much longer and a whole lot more boring. But even so, he lived. He's alive, he will heal, and the girl will be able to go home to her friends and family tonight. All things considered, he felt blessed that he could go home to his, too, at some point.

"Son, I know that I'm not the one you saved, but thank you for what you did. Because of you, no one had to face any worse injuries than you. From talking with the girl right before I came to you, she could've easily been in a worse situation than you are right now."

That was his fear, that she would've suffered worse had he not stepped in. Hearing that alone validated his decision. He didn't care one bit about what happened to him. He made the right call.

"I'll leave you alone to get some rest. I'll come back later and discuss your rehabilitation plan in more detail when you eventually leave here. For now, just relax." He got up and walked out of the room. He stopped in the doorway after he opened it, and Lincoln noticed him talking to someone to his right. He couldn't make out the person's voice, but he could clearly hear what Dr. Monroe was saying.

"Hello there…yes, he is…he's fine. You don't have to worry. If you wish to see him now, you are more than welcome to." He leaned his head back into Lincoln's room. "Young man, it looks like you have a visitor." He left as the girl Lincoln saved walked into his room to see him. She walked to the right side of his bed, seemingly nervous and shy, and took a seat in the chair that was next to it.

This was the first time he got a good look at her, when there wasn't any chaos going on around them and he wasn't at risk of passing out again. Her skin was tanner than his and looked like her natural color rather than sprayed on or induced by a tanning machine. Her hair was stringy, but beautifully kept, and was colored a mix of gold and brown. He wasn't sure if it was her natural hair color or not, but it worked so well to compliment her skin that he wasn't about to ask. Her face was gorgeous, with full eyes and cute lips. He also noticed the bandages on her hands. Once again, a sigh of relief that all she had to worry about were those little things.

"Um…hi." She said.

"…Hi." He responded. Beautiful girl in front of him aside, how do you hold a normal conversation with someone you saved? For her, it was a case of how do you hold a normal conversation with the person who saved you? They were both clueless as to what to say next.

"I…uh…thanks for…y'know…saving me back there."

"Oh…uh…no big deal…really."

"Uh…I wanna say that it is." Just looking at him in this condition was enough to make anyone believe that this was a big deal.

"Oh, all of this. Uh…really, it's fine. The doctor told me I should be able to recover."

"Oh, thank you, God!" She leaned down and hugged him with no consideration of his injured body.

"Ah! Ah! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Oh God! I'm so sorry!" She pulled back at lightning speed.

"No, you're good. Just…be careful around me, please."

"Yeah, I will."

After he readjusted, he asked "So, I never got your name. What is it?"

"Oh, uh, it's Kara. Kara Wood."

"Lincoln. Lincoln Loud." She giggled at him mimicking her.

"It's nice to meet you, Lincoln. I just wish meeting you would've been…less tragic." She looked right at his casts. It immediately brought to mind what could've happened to her.

"Hey, no one died. As far as I'm concerned, this is far from a tragedy."

"But look at yourself. You have so many bandages and casts on…and it's all because I was too stupid to watch where I was going." She simply stared at his casts and felt ready to cry.

"No. No, it's not your fault."

"Yes, it is." No hesitation.

"No, this is all on me!"

"No, it isn't, it's MY FAULT!" That yell shut Lincoln up. Now she really was crying. "I-if I w-wasn't on my STUPID phone, y-you never would've needed t-to…to SAVE me in the f-first place!" she hiccupped a couple times and covered her mouth. Crying completely took her over. There was just too much emotion in this whole situation for her not to. She nearly got hit by a car. She didn't. A boy she never met before took the hit for her. His condition wasn't life-threatening, but it was far from ideal. She only found out how close she was with death after she told the doctor everything that happened. All of this because she didn't look up from her phone when crossing the street. It was all just too much for her to handle. She buried her face into her hands and let the tears fall.

Lincoln hated seeing girls cry. Coming from a family where eleven of the members where female, it was a semi-regular occurrence around his house. He always hated it when his family wasn't their usual selves. He said it himself during a school project. His family was chaos, but he liked that chaos. To have a break in the norm where his sisters locked themselves in their rooms to drench their pillows in tears, it was his natural brotherly instincts to want to try and comfort them in any way he could. Since he did it so often, it eventually carried over from seeing his sisters cry to seeing women (or really, anyone) in general cry.

What's worse is that this girl was not about to be convinced otherwise that it wasn't her fault, but he really didn't have a solid argument against it. Had she not been so distracted on her phone, she wouldn't have walked out into the street without looking to see if there was a car coming. She wouldn't have crossed had she seen the car, and Lincoln wouldn't have had to run out into the street to save her from injury.

But he was still a kid who had good intentions when it came to helping others. What he prioritized was everyone else's happiness, his being a distant second. Why else would he work so hard to keep his sisters happy, otherwise. He still remembers catering to them to make up for him abusing their kindness (okay, bribing efforts) to get him to pick either the beach or the amusement park for the family getaway, a getaway that ended with half of his body covered in mosquito bites and the worst itching he ever felt, but he made his sisters happy, and that was his goal. Now, he had to help the crying girl sitting next to him.

She was sitting close enough that he could put an outstretched hand on her shoulder, and that's exactly what he did. He looked right at her and told her "Listen, all I care about is that your safe. As long as your uninjured, I did what I was supposed to do." He never sounded so serious in his life.

"B-but you…"

"This was my decision to make. I took the hit so you didn't have to. I don't care if I'm this injured. You're safe. End of story." It's amazing how wise and thoughtful Lincoln was for his age. It was also amazing the calming effect he had on others.

She reached up to grab his hand. She was still crying, but mixed in were small bouts of laughter. She got up and tenderly, this time, gave him a hug. She held it for a few seconds as she whispered into his ear "Thank you. So much." It was all she needed to say to make him smile. Her crying was dying out, and as she released him, she wiped the final tears away and regained her composure.

"I'm sorry, it's just…I've never had someone do something like that for me. First you save me, and then you try to make me feel better."

"Well, when you come from a family like mine, you learn how to make women feel better when they're upset."

"A lot of sisters, I take it?"

"Ten."

Yup, that was a lot. "Wow. No wonder you know. I imagine it gets pretty hectic at your house?"

"You have no idea. Try a house with only one bathroom, too."

She simply went wide eyed and her mouth hung open. "Exactly!" is what he responded with. A part of her wanted to give him another hug just for the sheer amount of crap he probably had to go through on a daily basis. This kid deserves to be given a medal, as far as she was concerned. She didn't hear any unhappiness coming from his voice, though, so he probably enjoyed living with his family, nonetheless.

"So, are you from Detroit?"

"Umm…I wanna say kind of. I live in Royal Woods."

"Hey, I actually live close to there!"

"How close?"

"About ten minutes south by car."

"Ferndale?"

"Yes."

"How is it there?"

"It's fine. I like that it's a close drive to the city but without a lot of the crime."

"Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't want to move closer downtown. What do you like about the city so much that you wanna stay close, though?"

"The arena. My dad and I are big Pistons fans and he usually gets season tickets for us."

"He must make some good money."

"He's a mechanical engineer, and my mom's a nurse."

"Yeah, your family probably has a better budget situation than mine does."

"Oh…sorry. Do your parents not make that much?"

"No, we do. It's just that with so many of us to take care of, money is always tight in our house."

"Makes sense. So, do you watch a lot of basketball?"

"I personally don't, but my sister does. Like you, she's a Pistons fan, so I'll come downstairs sometimes to see my dad and her watching a game."

"Does she go to games much?"

"No, being a big family, anything we do for fun pretty much involves all of us going so no one feels left out. You can imagine what taking thirteen people to a game would cost. Not to mention, most of my sisters wouldn't want to be there to begin with."

She nodded and let out a small laugh through her nose. The fact that he was holding an actual conversation with her made them both feel so much at ease about everything. She walked into his room to see him covered in bandages and casts, with survivor's guilt taking over seeing him like that. Now that they were actually speaking, she could feel a lot calmer about everything, seeing him as just another boy rather than someone who got hit by a car. He wanted so badly to ask her what grade she was in, but to his surprise, she asked him. There was a small silence beforehand.

"So…um…what grade are you in?"

"Oh…uh, fifth."

"Oh…okay. I'm in eighth, so…" Well, his suspicions were correct about her age. Didn't make it any easier to stomach the difference between his and hers. Another silence befelled them.

"Well, um…I need to get back to my dad…so he doesn't worry."

"Yup. Yeah, and I'm pretty sure my family will be back to visit me any minute so…"

"Well, I'm happy to see that your okay and…" She let out a breath and walked towards him after walking to the door originally. She bent down and kissed him on his cheek between his eye and his lips. He had never felt a pair of lips so soft before than hers. She pulled back and told him "Thanks again. F-For everything."

She turned to walk out but Lincoln stopped her before she made it more than a step.

"…Wait, Wait!" She turned to look at him.

"Can I…?" He couldn't believe he was about to do this. "Can I get your number?" That actually came out better than he thought it would.

She simply smiled. "Check on your pillow." He felt around a bit before finding a piece of paper with her digits.

"Oh…Cool. Thanks." She held her smile and blushed a little before walking out of his room.

Did that just happen? Did he actually shoot his shot with the girl he saved, a girl who, at most, is three years his senior?

Well, he got her number, anyway. Of course, there was no way he could legitimately date her without reminding himself of the fact that he was eleven and she was probably fourteen. How much longer before he was old enough where a three-year age difference wasn't a big deal?

Ah well. They could still talk to each other, and she would probably need someone to talk to about this whole ordeal. What better person than him? Besides, as long as she was too, he was willing to wait. After all, once he could fully start walking again, he would never take that skill for granted for as long as he lived. All he really needed to worry about now was how his family was going to react seeing him like this.

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**Fun fact about me: I actually don't care too much for the different romantic pairings in the show, and this is surprising considering I'm usually a massive shipper. Most of that falls to the premise of the show, and as such, I care much more about the family than the side characters, but a small part of me just hasn't warmed up to any of the potential pairings. Probably the one I'd be the most interested in would be Jordancoln, but even then, I don't care that much about it. I guess that's what happens when the focus of the show is primarily on the family.**

**Also, it amazes me how little people devote time to writing polite conversation going on between two people. There is just something about well-executed small talk and conversating that adds so much to the world that is being written about. As such, I felt the need to write the two characters having genuine conversation for a few lines, just so they could break the ice, get to know each other a little bit, just working to make the characters feel like real people who talk about regular things. Of course, I wasn't going for complete realism (have you listened to real people talk?), but I didn't want them to be here just so they could move the plot forward, either.**

**With all that said, I want to ask: What makes good dialogue? I'm not talking specifically about the conversation I wrote, either. To you, the reader, in general, what do you like to see in dialogue?**

**Thanks for reading! Lincoln's family will show up in the next chapter, and we can finally see how they feel about all of this, so stay tuned!**


	3. How've You Been?

**Looks like people liked the dialogue from last chapter. Cool! I'm glad to see people enjoyed it. As I said, good conversation and small talk are things that don't get enough appreciation, as it helps to flesh out the characters and world as a whole, and I wanted to try to include some here.**

**Now then, time for the next chapter. My apologies in advance if this chapter isn't of the best quality. Not gonna lie, I was suffering from a lack of motivation while writing this one, but I still wanted to get it out. Thankfully, I found myself getting more invested when I was close to finishing and polishing it, so hopefully, the end result is still good. I thought it came out well, all things considered, but I'll let you be the judge.**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon **

* * *

It was about a half-hour after Lincoln had his talk with Kara that the Louds returned from their lunch. They were able to take their time as they were already told that Lincoln, while extremely beat up, was on tract to recover from everything. The lack of wounds that would lead to excessive bleeding and his head suffering nothing worse than a concussion were what assured the doctors that, for someone who was just hit by a car, Lincoln was, at least, stable. That helped to calm everyone down, but the nerves that the family felt before helped to make them hungry by that time. One trip to a local pizza joint and back later, the doctor informed them that he woke up a little bit ago and that they could finally see him.

Everyone was nervous. They were afraid of the condition he was going to be in and what he would look like as a result. Not only that, but this was something he willingly put himself through. They saw the whole thing. They saw him run out into the street to save a girl he had never met before from getting injured like he did. It made them completely re-evaluate who they thought Lincoln was.

He was a hero. That was the first thing everyone established amongst themselves. He made the decision to run out into the street to save a person's life. That did not warrant any sort of emotional anger that some of the sisters may use against him when they first saw him in the hospital. Did some of them need to tell him how worried they were that he was going to die? Yes, but he did this in an act of selflessness that transcended anything kind he had done previously.

It was also why they were so proud of him. How many people can say that their own brother was brave and kind enough to risk their own life for someone else? They were prepared to shower him with all of the praise they could possibly give and do whatever they could to make him feel worthy of being a hero. He could ask for a fleet of Bentleys and they wouldn't deny him, doing anything they could to get them for him. They were no longer seeing him as their only brother, a title that was way too simple for him. In fact, they felt they didn't even deserve to call themselves his sisters for an act so big. That being said, they didn't actually see him yet, so who knows how they would react.

After making their way to the door, the parents stopped and turned to look at them, with Lynn Sr. being the first to speak. "Girls, I know you all are very anxious to see Lincoln, but your mother and I want to meet with him first, alone."

"NO! Please, daddy! I wanna see him! I wanna know he's okay!" Lola wasn't angry, she was concerned and paranoid. She watched her own brother get hit by a car in horrific fashion. It didn't simply punt him, he went for an awful ride as he tumbled around on top of it. It was a sentiment that the rest of the daughters shared, though some more than others.

"We know you girls do, and we do too, but as his parents, we should go first. We don't want to overwhelm him, especially if he just woke up."

"No, dad, you literally don't understand. We are freaking out right now, and we really need to see Lincoln just so we can make sure he's fine."

"Again, we know you do, but your mother and I want to make sure he can stand to see everyone now. Who knows what kind of state he's currently in."

"C'mon dad. Lincoln's our brother and we-"

"Please girls!" Rita's rough plea cut Lynn off. "I know how you all feel right now, but I…I just really need to see my baby first to make sure he's okay."

Nobody was about to argue with her after that. They may have been Lincoln's sisters, but Rita was his mother, and no one was more worried about him right now than her. Now they understood why the parents wanted to go first. Rita didn't want any of them interfering with her chance to see her only son without any distractions.

Without any further interruptions, the parents approached the door, before Lynn turned to the girls and said "Sorry girls…but thanks for waiting." With a deep breath, they both opened the door to Lincoln's room.

He was wide awake, watching cartoons on the tv in his room. While the parents were relieved that he was his usual self, they still saw their own son covered in bandages and casts. They were used to trips to the hospital thanks to Lynn, but she only ever had to go for a couple broken bones at worst. She never looked like this. She never looked this broken. There wasn't a single part of his body that didn't have at least a few bruises on it, and his face had a couple scrapes on it as well. It was enough to drive Rita to tears, a mix of emotions between seeing her son in such a state, imagining what it might've been like if it had gone worse, and the sheer joy she felt in seeing that her baby survived.

Since Lincoln was awake, he was able to hear the door open, and when his parents walked in, he was mortified. He had no idea how they would react to what he did. All he knew was that they probably weren't going to be very happy with him. He was mainly afraid that they were going to be angry with him, making a decision that could've resulted in him dying.

When he saw his mother's face show nothing but absolute vulnerability when she saw him like this, he wished they were angry. Nothing pained Lincoln more than seeing his own mother cry. Natural of any son who loved their mother, seeing the woman who raised him from birth shed tears sent a dagger right through his heart that made him want to make her feel better no matter what. Unfortunately, his options were limited, given his situation, so he did the one thing he was better at than anyone else in the whole family. He profusely apologized.

"Mom, I'm so sorry about what I did. I don't know what came over me. I just saw someone I thought was in trouble and rushed in to help. I know I probably should've stayed back, but I just-"

He was cut off as Rita gingerly brought him into an embrace, her motherly instincts telling her to be careful with him and not put him in anymore pain than he already was. The pressure from the hug was aggravating his bruises only a little bit, but it wasn't nearly enough to make him care. Nothing was going to tell him to make her stop hugging him.

"I'm so glad you're okay honey." She whispered to him as she cried a mix of happy and sad tears. He used his right arm to return the hug as best he could, afraid to use his left since it was hooked to an IV. She eventually released and cupped his face into her hands to get another good look at him, battered…but alive, and only after she did too, smiling.

"Try not to scare us like that again, okay?" Her words were so tender.

"I'll try."

She gave him another hug and said to him "I'm so proud of you." He didn't have to ask why.

"Hey there, sport." Lynn came over and gave him a hug after Rita finished with hers, handing Lily to her.

"Hey dad."

"You gave us quite a scare, there."

"Yeah…sorry about that."

"You don't have to be, kiddo. You ran out there to save someone. You have no idea how proud we are of you." While Lincoln already knew that he made the right decision, it felt good to be validated by his parents. Rita would've handed Lily to Lincoln if she wasn't already showing a fascination with the IV tube. Lord knows the last thing Lincoln needed was to have that accidently yanked out of him because Lily wanted to play with it.

"So, how long you been up?"

"Only for a little bit. I want to say no more than an hour."

"The doctor talk to you yet?"

"Yeah."

"Did he tell you about the injuries and healing process?"

"I guess for the most part. A lot of broken bones that need me to wear casts and a brace. He said it should take a couple months to fully heal."

"Okay. He already talked to your mother and me about this. Did he mention that you'll be staying for a few nights?"

"No."

"Well, you are so they can keep an eye on you just in case something happens they weren't initially aware of." Poor choice of words on his part, as Lincoln was left to think that his situation was worse than the doctors originally let on.

"Does…that mean…?"

Lynn realized what he said and tried to correct himself. "It's okay. It's okay. Nothing that should be fatal, just them wanting to make sure your wounds heal up and they don't cause an infection."

Lincoln breathed and leaned back in his bed, and Rita looked at her husband with a scowl. "Lynn, don't scare him like that."

"Sorry. I should've worded it better."

"Your sisters are outside, honey. I know you want to see them." He did, but with a catch.

"Um…can they not come in all at once, please?" It wasn't that he had anything against his sisters, but he knew all too well how they react to things when all of them are together. Never will he forget the thumb fiasco, as he started to call it.

"Sure, sweetie."

"Thanks." His parents walked out of his room but left the door open, allowing him to hear his whole family.

"Okay, girls, Lincoln's fine and awake." First thing he heard was a chorus of sighs of relief. "You all can see him, but under one condition: you can only go in in groups of three." A chorus of groans followed. "I know girls, but like your father said earlier, Lincoln doesn't want to be overwhelmed, especially in his current condition. We'll let three of you go in at a time to see him. Lori, Leni, and Lisa, you three can go first." He was surprised there wasn't much protesting but the sheer speed they came into his view clued him in as to why.

Lori came in first, followed closely by Leni, who wasted no time in booking it right to his bed side, screaming "Linky!" with all the joy in the world. Knowing exactly what she was going to do, she tried to get her to stop by shouting "Wait!" over and over again, but to no avail. She wrapped him in a painful hug as she spared no thought to his injured state, and it didn't help that she was swaying him back and forth as she did it.

"I'm so glad you're okay." It didn't take long for Lori to come over and yank her off of him.

"Leni! Don't hurt him!"

"I wasn't hurting him."

Lori simply gestured over to Lincoln, who wore a pained expression on his face as he tried to make himself comfortable again and wait for his nerves to register that nothing was causing his pain anymore.

"Oh my gosh! I'm totes sorry, Lincoln!"

He let out an exacerbated groan. "How hard is it for people to understand that I'm fragile right now?"

"Apparently, very." She glared at Leni. "Hey Linc. It's good to see you're okay…or at least, as okay as you can literally be right now." Rather than go in for a hug, Lori simply rested a gentle hand onto his shoulder.

"Yeah. Getting hit by a car. Not pleasant."

Lori let out a small laugh at her brother's attempt to make that come across as casual conversation, but it also took her back to when she saw him take the hit. There were many things she thought she was afraid of, such as the idea of Bobby and her breaking up, Lola being angry, so on and so forth, but those seemed like minor inconveniences compared to watching someone she loved almost get killed. He could see it in her face that she was thinking back to it, and before he could try to rectify his mistake, Lisa finally announced her presence.

"Greetings, male sibling."

"Hey Lisa."

"I take it our second-oldest has already tried to hug you only to aggravate your injuries?"

"How can you tell?"

"Lori's still grabbing her shirt collar." Only now did Lori realize this and let go.

"You're fine, Leni. Just take it easy around me."

"You got it, Linc."

Lincoln decided to switch topics. "Listen…about earlier…sorry if I made you guys worry." All Lincoln seemed to be settling for was apologizing.

"Do you think that, next time, you could try doing something safer?"

"Leni, he _saved_ someone." Lori perceived what Leni said to be a dig at his actions, that it was more reckless than heroic.

"I know, but…" Rather than her stunt she pulled when she first came into the room, she was now much more caring in taking his head and planting a kiss on the top of it. "I need you around, too. I'm happy it didn't turn out any worse."

"Normally, I wouldn't show such emotion, but…" Now it was Lisa's turn to hug Lincoln via climbing up on his bed to reach him. "I'm happy you're still here, too."

"Same here, Linc." Lori squeezed in to find a bear spot to wrap her arms around him.

"Thanks guys…" While he appreciated the love his sisters were showing, he was now starting to wonder if he actually did make the right decision in saving that girl, not on the grounds that he saved her, but that if his injuries were worse, his sisters would've been left devastated beyond belief. Was it a fair trade if he gave his life and his family's mental well-being just for the life of another girl? He didn't have to answer that, as everything turned out as well as one could have hoped, but gosh dang if Lincoln's sisters didn't make that question weigh on him.

"And Lincoln?"

"Yeah Lise?"

"Don't feel bad about saving that girl."

"Yeah. Even if we were literally scared stiff, you did the right thing." More validation, at least. Now he didn't have to feel so bad about what he put his sisters through, or at least, two of them. Leni may come around, but not in this moment.

Eventually, they released the hugs, and Lori tried to drum up some semi-teasing between him and her. "Sorry we didn't bring you any gifts."

"Don't worry about it…" Lincoln was in a bit of a mood to tease her as well. "But would it really have killed you to bring a comic or something with you? Some sister you are." His smile was enough for her to realize he was just playing around.

"Well, with that attitude, maybe a lecture on how to be nice to me would help to make up for it."

"Do you want me to fall back asleep?"

"If it gets you to stop complaining, I'm considering it." This whole exchange featured the two smiling. Ironic how this ended up being one of the better cases of teasing shared between two siblings, even if it was a short exchange.

"Pardon me for asking, dear sibling, but…do you remember much of what happened?"

"…Why are you asking?" Lincoln wasn't uncomfortable, but rather caught off-guard.

"I'm curious about how the human mind responds to situations such as these and…please forgive me for this, Lincoln…you're my best chance to study this happening in someone." The room suddenly became tense. "Again, sorry I asked. You don't have to say if you don't-"

"No, no, it's fine, it's fine…I just wasn't expecting you to ask right now is all…I remember running out into the street. I thought she might be in trouble and I just…ran out to help." While talking, the memory of what happened came back in full force as he felt as though he was about to relive it. "I pushed her out of the way with my arm…my eyes were closed for the rest, but I felt a really bad pain in my leg a few seconds after I got hit. After that…things get blurry."

"Are you feeling okay, Linky?"

"I…I know you guys said not to worry, but…I don't like making you guys upset. I may not have remembered much after the hit...but I do remember hearing you guys crying."

"Lincoln, don't think for a second that this is about us. You literally forgot about everything just to push a girl away from danger. Of course, we were upset, but that doesn't take away from what you did. We all know that you made the right decision." To make sure he felt better, Lori had an 'ace' up her sleeve. "I know that if Ace Savvy could see what you did, he would be even more proud than we are." That did it. Lincoln couldn't have worn a purer smile if he tried.

Lori decided it was best to leave now so as not to have anyone ask anymore uncomfortable question. "Alright Linc. Rest up and we'll talk with you again at some point. Do you still have your phone?"

"Not that I know of. If I had to guess, it probably got crushed."

"Well, either way, we'll see you soon."

"I'm totes gonna miss not having you at the house tonight."

"Likewise. I wish you luck in feeling better, dear brother."

"Thanks guys. I'll talk to you soon."

They finally left to let the next group in, and he heard Rita say who. "Lynn, Lana, Lola, you guys can go next." If Lincoln could've, he would've ran. He knew how brutal these three, in particular, were with him. Lana may not have been nearly as bad as Lola, but because they were identical twins, they were usually on the same page when it came to quite a few things. One such thing was overreacting, and all he was expecting right now was for the three of them to come in and just crush him with their hugs. He saw them enter and was mentally preparing himself for the worst, his anticipation only growing as the twins scurried to his bedside and climbed up to his bed.

Instead of hugging, though, what he got was _all _of the kisses from them. Point out any specific spot on his face and the girls would've touched it. Eyes, nose, lips, forehead, cheeks, cheekbones, chin, they gave him kisses literally everywhere in their sheer jubilation of seeing him alive and alert.

"I'm happy to see you girls, too" Lincoln said, dumbfounded at this display of affection that was unlike the twins, whom he knew more for their hugs.

"I'm so" _*kiss*_ "happy that" _*kiss*_ "you're okay!" Lola was trailing the corner of his eye to his cheekbone.

"Don't scare us like that!" Lana then doubled down on his cheek.

Lincoln, by this point, desiring some personal space, worked to get them to stop by pushing against them with his arms, with Lola getting a gentler push from him because she was on the side where the IV was.

"Okay, okay, girls." He could only laugh at the amount of affection he just got. "You don't need to be scared anymore. I'm awake now."

"But look at you." Lana pointed to, well, all of him, really.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to watch something like that happen?!" Lola wasn't about to let him off the hook for what he did, either.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry, but-"

"We were so scared!"

"You ran out there like it was nothing!"

"And you...you…" Lola seemed to be struggling to say that last part, but the more she hung on it, the more she seemed to realize what she was going to say. "You saved someone…" She was afraid of hugging him in case she hurt him some more and decided to wrap her arms around his head, an action repeated by Lana.

"You're our hero" they said in unison.

"Alright, you two. Give him some room to breathe." Lincoln was so caught up in the attention the twins were giving him that he didn't even see Lynn standing on the other side of the room. She was unusually quiet.

"…Hey Lynn."

"Hey." Silence followed.

"Are…you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…I'm not used to seeing you like this." He could see a fear in her eyes that was unlike her. While she would never admit it, she was afraid of seeing her siblings in situations that she felt only herself should be in. This was evident when Lola broke her leg and arm practicing for a pageant, and she seemed to take steps to try and avoid her. The fact that it was her brother in the bed broke even more of her walls down.

"Are…are you doing okay, Lincoln?"

"As well as I can be."

Lynn only nodded in understanding. This was very much not the Lynn he was used to.

"I…uh…wanted to say that what you did was, uh, really brave."

"Thanks."

Once again, there was little to say among the siblings. Lana and Lola didn't stop cradling him, while Lynn wasn't sure what to say to him at all.

"I'm…guessing you won't be coming home tonight."

"Sorry, but it's not my decision."

The twins took over talking. "Aww, but I'm going to miss you."

"Me too, Linky. Why can't you heal faster?"

"Because my body doesn't want to."

"Can't Lisa just make something to help you get better?"

"Uh, um, no. No! No. Please, just…no." Despite his respect for her, he did not, under any circumstances, want to subject himself to something that may cause him more harm than good when it came to healing from this.

"If you need me to, Linc…I-I can try and help you through the healing process. I may not have ever been in a wheelchair before, but I've had my fair share of injuries."

"I'm aware. I've been around to see most, if not, all of them."

"Yeah…and you've always helped me through them, so maybe I can finally return the favor."

"We'll help, too" the twins chimed in.

"Thanks girls."

"No problem, little bro. We should probably head out, now. The other three need to see him, too." The twins both groaned, but complied.

"Don't think you're going to feel alone here or something. I'll make sure mommy and daddy visit you every day."

"I'm sure you will, Lola, and I suspect you're going to help her with it?"

"Like we always do, big brother."

"Alright, I'll see you guys, later."

"Seeya, Lincoln." And with that, the three left his room so the final three could come in. Rita didn't even have to tell them it was their turn.

Seeing the final three brought him ease. He didn't have to worry about Luna or Lucy trying anything extreme on him, and while Luan had a scary side to her, it never showed in serious situations, where she would act very mellow and somewhat shy.

"Hey, dude." They all came over and took a seat somewhere on his bed.

"Hey Luna, Luan, Lucy."

"We're happy to see you're doing well." Lucy gave him a smile as she picked up his right arm and placed it in her lap, her own way of trying to comfort him.

"Good job saving that chick."

"Yeah…it was very brave what you did." Luan was trying hard to be on the level of reassurance that Luna and Lucy were at.

"Thanks guys...were you scared at all?"

"Oh, no doubt, bro. But we knew you did it for a good reason." Luna grabbed his hand on his left one.

"Yeah. You're not someone who usually acts so reckless, let alone put yourself in situations where you could get hurt."

"You did what you had to do, Linc. We won't get worked up over something like that."

Tired of saying 'thanks' so much, he simply nodded in understanding. It felt nice to have these three here to just show him some genuine kindness and reassurance. While the first two groups surprised him in different ways, these three just seemed like their ordinary selves coming in to care for him, though he did notice Lucy being very playful with his arm, consistently rolling it up and down her legs, which he just let happen.

"Lisa told us about how you're dealing with everything, and listen, all I'm happy about is that you're still kickin' bro. Don't get so hung up on us."

Lucy stopped rolling Lincoln's arm around and started to give it a small squeeze. "Lincoln…forgive me for asking, but…do you remember what it felt like to get hit?"

Silence came into being for only a couple moments, though he expected a dark question from her.

"Thankfully, no."

"Oh, thank God." Everyone was in shock that she displayed so much emotion in just that one moment. First of all, she never says that, much less show signs of feeling relief over a situation. Second, she said it with such humanity behind it that no one in the family ever dreamed of hearing from her. Really, Lucy was acting more human right now than anyone in her family had ever seen. She only came to realize this when she looked to see the shocked expressions on her sibling's faces.

"Oh, uh, sorry. I-I just don't like having to think about you in pain, is all."

"I can agree with that."

"Same here, dude."

"Thanks, and you don't have to feel bad, Lucy. Honestly, I'd be surprised if you _didn't_ ask me something like that while you're here." She looked up to see Lincoln's tender smile, and she couldn't help but smile back.

Deciding it was time to lighten the mood more, Luan chimed in. "Hey, do you want to hear a joke?"

"Yes, please." They were all in need a bit of a pick-me-up at that moment.

"What do hospitals and parents have in common? They both have to have a lot of _patience."_

Rather than groan, the other three let out small laughs, with Lincoln following it up by saying "Wow…" She earned a smile from all three of the, though, so she felt she did her job well.

"It's bogus you can't come home with us tonight."

"I think it may be for the best. We all know how chaotic it can sometimes get there. The last thing you need is one of our crazier sisters constantly bugging you all night."

"True dat."

"Well, look on the bright side, you two. That just means more time for us to make his return more comfortable and funnier for him."

"Just don't overdo it, please. Remember, I'm going to be stuck in a wheelchair when I get out."

"No problem, dude. We'll see what we can't convince the rest of the fam to do." Lucy and Luan nodded in agreement with that.

"Thanks, you guys."

"You got it, bro."

"Yeah, you're welcome." This had to be a record for Lucy for the most she ever smiled in the span of a half-hour.

"Think we should give the 'rents some more time with him?"

"Probably a good idea." Lucy gave a hug to his arm, while Luna and Luan each planted a kiss on his head.

"We'll see ya at some point."

"Yep."

"Bye, Lincoln" he heard Lucy and Luan state in unison, followed by Luan saying "Hopefully the next time we see you, you won't look so _gown." _Lincoln shook his head but cracked a smile as they left his room.

With that, he finally got to see all of his sisters. For the rest of the family's visit, the parents spent their time talking with Lincoln and the doctor when he came back, while the sisters spent their time talking amongst each other in the hallway. At one point, Lori spoke up to get all of their attentions."

"Girls, when we get home, we're going to hold a meeting. Understood?" A cluster of different ways to say 'yes' was the response she got.

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**Originally, this chapter was going to be longer, but I didn't want the main body going over 5k words, so I stopped it here. I said in the first chapter that 2-3 chapters would be dedicated to the immediate aftermath, and afterwards, the rest of the chapters would focus on the sisters. Well, that's changed. One more chapter will be used to talk about Lincoln returning home. After that, individual family bonding time.**

**The sisters being split was a concept that came to mind in the early stages of writing this chapter. One of the things that makes this show tedious to watch at times is how many of the bad situations come up when all of the sisters are together. I've actually started to expect the worst when the sisters are all together in one group. The only time they are actually good in a big group is when they are doing something specifically for Lincoln. Because of that, I had them separated to avoid opening a can of worms that I feel Lincoln didn't deserve to have, especially in his condition.**

**Also, in reading the reviews from the last chapter, I'm not surprised a good amount of people are on the Ronnie Anne x Lincoln train. I'm personally not for a couple reasons, but ****I respect those who are.**

**Thanks for reading, everyone.**


	4. Ready To Return To Normal

**If there's one thing I'm learning about myself when it comes to writing, it's that, aside from the beginning chapter, I cannot write short content to save my life. Of course, this chapter has the excuse of tying up some loose ends before I start writing about the individual family members, but 6k was not the intent when I wrote it (now you can see why I split it from the last chapter). Now with that said, I still feel like this came out shorter than it should have. I don't know why. Everything included is what I wanted to be here and I didn't find anything inherently wrong with what I wrote.  
**

**I don't know. Whatever the case, here's the final chapter to the aftermath arc of the story. In this chapter, we find out what happened to the man who hit Lincoln, how the neighborhood will respond to the news, and Lincoln finally returning home. Hope you all enjoy.**

**Also, since I didn't address it last chapter, I will here. Don't expect much shipping in this fic between Kara and Lincoln. The focus of this fic is supposed to be on the relationship Lincoln has with his family, not his relationship with her. Plus, I wouldn't actually write them being romantically involved until both were passed the age of 16, the age of consent in Michigan. I plan on having the two text in the future, but it won't be more than friendly conversation, and I don't plan on skipping that far ahead into the future (maybe an epilogue chapter, but it's not a priority). While I initially saw them as a couple in the future, I think it would be better if their relationship is left to interpretation. **

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon.**

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After discussing a few more things with his parents, the family finally left the hospital. One of the things they weren't so crazy about was that, because of the added expense that would've resulted from a transfer, Lincoln would have to stay in Detroit for at least the next week while he healed enough to go home. It disappointed them that their son/brother couldn't be close to them for easier visits, but they'd be damned if a half-hour drive was too much for them to visit him daily, or as much as they could.

When the family got home, the sisters headed right upstairs to begin their meeting. There was much to discuss, and it all revolved around Lincoln. Lori pulled her shoe off and banged it on the podium.

"Alright, girls. We all know what this meeting is about. First, as much as none of us want to…I think it would be good if we talked about what happened."

Silence was all that filled the room for seven tense seconds while everyone was afraid to say what happened. Even Lisa, arguably the sister that has the easiest time discussing difficult subject matter, didn't want to say anything. Eventually, Lana, out of just wanting to rip the band-aid off and move on, spoke.

"Lincoln got hit by a car and is in the hospital. Done! Finished. Next subject, please."

"I concur. Let's move on."

"Guys, I'm being serious. How are we supposed to properly help Lincoln if we can't even come to terms with what happened?"

"Because it has nothing to do with how we can properly help, Lincoln."

"Yes, it does, Lola. I've taken a psychology class. I know enough that if this isn't addressed, some of us could very well become afraid to simply be around Lincoln because we don't want to talk about what happened."

"I have to agree with Lori, here. For as much as I wish to not continue this discussion, it is quite possible that, instead of being able to properly cope with what our brother has endured, some of us could develop fears of being around him, as he would remind us too much of the incident, an incident that none of us wish to remember."

"Thank you, Lisa. Now please guys. We need to talk about it."

All anyone could see this as now was therapy. However, even with that established, there was little that anyone wanted to say.

"Lincoln got hit by a car and I was afraid he was going to die." This one sentence, spoken by Lynn, was all that really any of them could say. A bunch of sighs rang throughout the room as everyone came to agree that everything that happened did, in fact, happen.

It seemed that Lori knew that this was the best she was going to get, so she simply moved the meeting along. "Okay…next, we need to talk about Lincoln himself. Specifically, how can we help him when he gets back?"

"He'll need ramps."

"Gee. Thanks Luan."

"What? They'll help him."

"We know that. Mom and dad are probably talking about getting them right now."

"Aww man. I was hoping I could build them for him."

"Uh, why exactly would you want to, Lana?"

"I have the materials and I want to help as much as I can. Plus, it could save mom and dad some money."

"Oooooo. Can I help?" Everyone looked at Leni like she just grew a pair of antlers out of her head.

"You want to help Lana make ramps?"

"Well, Linky's gonna need them when going in and out of the house. Might as well make them look nice."

"Function is more important than looks, Leni."

"That's no excuse to make something not look good."

"Do you even know how-…y'know what? Nevermind. I'm just gonna let this happen and see what you come up with." Luan's sentiment was shared by pretty much everyone else.

"Okay, ramps. What else?"

"Stairs? He's not exactly going to be able to climb up those anytime soon." Luan tried saying this in a way to make it sound more humorous.

"Not funny, Luan."

"Why must you always assume what I say is a joke?" Her time being a stage actress was rubbing off on her, as her sarcasm and sass were at an all-time high.

"She's right though, dudes. He'll need help getting around the house from top to bottom, and I doubt the 'rents want to spend a good chunk of change on one of those stair lifts."

"That really shouldn't be a problem, though. Combined with mom and dad, he has all of us around. We should be able to handle that."

"Are you sure about that, Lynn?"

"Yes, Lola, I am. This shouldn't be hard for all of us to do when we team up with each other. Plus, I doubt he'll want to go downstairs much, anyway."

"He probably won't leave the house much, either. I doubt mother and father wish to spend money on a new minivan equipped to handle occupants in wheelchairs."

"Dang, dudes. Lincoln's gonna be stuck at home for a while, isn't he?"

"And we won't be around to help him a whole lot since we'll be stuck in boring, old school."

"Or when we take trips to the mall."

"Or the beach."

"Or Dairyland."

No one was happy about this. There was nothing more the girls wanted than to help Lincoln though this. He was going to have to stay home for a while, though, while he healed, and that included when they wanted to take weekend trips somewhere. Because this was Lincoln, they knew he wouldn't want them to miss out on things they enjoyed simply for his sake, but they wouldn't be the same without him there. Besides, someone was going to have to stay home with anyway since only the biggest of morons would leave a handicapped child at home alone, and that would be their best excuse to stay home from their usual weekend activities.

School, however, was the main point of contention, as that was when they would be separated from Lincoln the longest. Knowing their parents, though, it would be impossible to convince them that simply staying home so he had company was good enough of an excuse to lag behind in their studies. They couldn't be that upset, however. What kind of parents would they be if they just allowed their kids to stay home from school under a good, but not good enough, excuse? Lincoln would be fine without them. Rita would probably get some days off or switch to taking night appointments so she could be there for her son, while Lynn could hire some chefs to allow him to spend more time at home. The restaurant was certainly making enough money to make that a reality.

But that wasn't enough for them. When it came to watching Lincoln get hit, they all thought for a moment he was going to die. He didn't, but it was that prospect that made them want to spend more time with him. What if he had? It was something no one wanted to think about, yet couldn't be not thought about.

"What should we do, then?"

"What we can do, Lana. We trust Lincoln to be fine when we aren't home with him, and when he is home, we literally do all we can to both help him and be with him. Speaking of, we need to put something in place for when he actually needs our help."

"I believe I can be of assistance. With a little bit of coding magic, I can develop an app that will alert us to our dear brother's requests for assistance." Lisa announced, quite pleased with her proposition.

Lola, however, shot her hand up, which Lori acknowledged. "Yes?"

"Uh, he doesn't have a phone right now, and if he did, wouldn't him simply sending a text to all of us be easier?"

…

…

…

"I hate you."

Two things you should know about Lisa. One, she never liked being bettered by someone that wasn't as smart as her, and two, she hated having ideas where an alternative would be the better option. It's hard to blame her for trying, though. Most of the girls were just desperate to contribute in some way, running off of the rush they were feeling from there desire to help Lincoln in anyway they could. Lisa may have been the smartest of the bunch, but she was still human. She was also only four.

"Okay, this is clearly something we're going to have to think through, so how about we-"

"Girls, come downstairs. There is something you need to see!"

Everyone heeded their father and made their way downstairs, their sibling meeting being put on hold. When they made it to the living room and everyone was able to see the tv, Rita played the clip.

"_And, in other news, a young boy is being hailed as a hero by Detroit citizens tonight after running into the street to save a young teen from getting hit by a car. Channel 4's Michelle LeMont has the story. Michelle?"_

"_Thanks, Dave. I'm currently standing next to where the incident took place. You can see the black BMW the driver was in still sitting there. The police currently have the rode blocked off while they investigate exactly what happened here earlier today."_

The piece cut to a voice over. _"A scenario that seems like it should come from a fiction story. A teenage girl and her friends were crossing the street as a distracted driver approached. All of a sudden, instead of the girl getting hit, it was actually a boy."_

A witness came on. _"I looked to the street right as the poor kid got hit, and the next thing I know, he's rolling every which way on top of the car."_

"_Witnesses say the driver hit the breaks as soon as the hit happened. The boy tumbled onto the roof of the car before rolling back down, coming to rest on the asphalt."_

"_It was terrible. You never want to see something like that, much less, happening to a kid."_

"_The boy was rushed to the hospital. The girl escaped with only minimal injuries, due to the heroic actions of the boy, who ran out into the street to push her out of the way."_

"_That was a brave kid, right there. It was like watching a hero in action." _

The clip cut back to the live shot. _"And Dave, police have just informed me that the name of the boy that saved the girl is Lincoln Loud. He was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, and that, despite several broken bones, he is in stable condition."_

At that moment, everyone's phones lit up as a barrage of text messages and calls came in from friends of the sisters asking if Lincoln's okay and how much of a hero he was. The girls were not used to having their phones blow up like that. Not even Lori. Friends, family, colleagues, and even rivals poured in to have the girls give Lincoln their well wishes. They also heard a knock at the door. Lynn and Rita answered to see Clyde standing there with the single most worried face they ever saw the boy have.

"Lincoln! How is he?! Is he stable?! Will he be able to recover?! Is he going to die?!"

"Clyde! Clyde! Calm down and breathe." He wasted no time in breathing into his paper bag to try and calm himself down. His concern was so high that he never even registered that it was Lori who told him to calm down.

"We saw the news! Is Lincoln okay?!" Harold and Howard came running into the house with a more controlled concern.

"Lincoln's fine, you guys. He's recovering in the hospital and-"

"Oh, thank the heavens!" The two men didn't even wait for Rita to finish what she was going to say before giving her a massive hug.

After breathing in his bag enough, Clyde was able to calm his nerves to the point of speaking normally. "Well, that's a relief. Now I can focus on figuring out helping Lincoln out."

"Not so fast, bub. As his sisters, we are the ones in charge of that."

"Then, at least, let me help. I think I know Lincoln well enough to know what he likes to have when he's not feeling one hundred percent."

"Thanks Clyde." Lori gave Clyde a hug that turned him back to the Clyde everyone knew whereupon he passed out and his nose bled. Of course, this also being Clyde, he woke up only ten seconds later.

"He's right, though. We want to help out, and we have some ideas on how."

"What do you have in mind?"

What the McBrides had come up with was a crowdfunding campaign. They knew that Lincoln's heroics were going to make him someone that people actively wanted to help. They also knew that people weren't going to stop asking how they could help, either. The result of such thinking led them to want to create a campaign that could be used to cover medical expenses and anything deemed necessary to making Lincoln's life easier while recovering. The couple also offered to have physical gifts sent to their house so the Louds could still have some privacy.

This absolutely stunned Lynn and Rita. They knew the McBrides were nice, but my goodness, this was on a level they hadn't really encountered before. Rita spoke up by saying "Thank you both. So much…but you really don't have to do all of this."

"We want to, though, Rita." Howard spoke.

"Indeed. We could tell from how well he and Clyde get along that you two are raising a fine young man. What he did only proves that."

There really is no greater sense of pride for a parent than being told how great their kids are. Lynn just reflected on that statement while Rita was being driven to tears of joy. The truth of the matter, though, was that they really didn't need the crowdfunding to begin with, as they found out a few days after everything that happened.

* * *

As it turns out, the guy who hit Lincoln was a lawyer for an accounting firm with offices in the city, the people he was texting being some regional execs he was hired by. If the sisters were the ones who decided everything, especially Lola and Lynn, the guy would be on the hook for attempted murder and them requesting the death penalty. Of course, they didn't have a say, and while the parents were tempted to take him to trial for reckless driving and attempted murder (though that one was going to be hard to win), they first talked with Lincoln to ask what he wanted them to do. He wanted to meet the guy, to see if he had remorse or was unapologetic. His parents allowed it, along with the hospital and police, and he met him face-to-face a couple days after the incident.

The lawyer was led via police escort through the hospital to where Lincoln's room was. He was scared. There was never a moment in this man's life where he had to face jail time, but more than that, on the hook for almost taking another human life. When the accident happened, he was left in shock. Being a lawyer, he was usually known for his stone-cold demeaner that the brass of the company fawned over, as well as his ability to get things done. Now, though, he was all human, and he couldn't argue his way out of a box. When he was thrown into his cell that night, he broke down crying, as the thoughts of taking someone's life, and even worse, a child's, overtook him. He only stopped when the news reported that Lincoln was going to live. The man never felt so relieved in his life. Even better, after a couple days, the police said the child wished to speak with him. This was his chance to atone.

He thought it would be good to rehearse his apology, but when he actually made it to the room of the person he hit, it was completely gone. He was hit full force with the reality of everything, the person he almost killed. He never lived his life with the intent to kill anybody, and here he almost did it.

"Alright, Mr Braunen. You may enter." The doctor gave the all clear for him, and the sweat beads began to form. He was able to argue for his company in the court of law that saved the company millions of dollars on several occasions, and through all of them, he showed nothing but confidence. That may as well have been a completely different person.

Lincoln was leaning against the pillows on his bed rather sleepily when he saw the man who hit him come in. If he was tired at all before, he wasn't anymore. This meeting was actually happening. His parents were present, too, but because he wanted this to be a one-on-one, he didn't want them in the room. They left, eyeing up the man as they did, who was too focused on their son to care about them.

A tense few seconds past as the two simply looked at each other, both as afraid as the other. For Lincoln, this was the man who may very well have taken his life when he hit him. He could've died, and his family would've probably been in shambles. He also wasn't sure of the man's attitude towards everything, but with how much fear he could make out, he could guess the man wasn't exactly happy about what happened. Mr. Braunen was the same way. He was afraid of what could've happened had this kid died. He was staring at what he had the capability to do when he was being careless. Not paying attention nearly cost this boy his life, and for Braunen, his freedom on charges of manslaughter. But even though he was concerned about going to jail, it didn't hold a candle to his fear of being known as a killer. It's amazing how one situation can cause both an eleven-year-old and a forty-four-year-old to feel a sense of fear that was quite similar to each other.

Someone had to act first, and Braunen, for whatever reason, felt a strong urge to begin the talk. "M-mind if I sit?"

Lincoln simply gestured to the chair next to his bed.

Only now could Braunen finally see the devastation that this boy had to deal with. Both of his legs in casts and he could make out the outline for a back brace. He never felt more disgusted than seeing Lincoln in a hospital bed like this. He could count himself lucky that the damage wasn't worse, but frankly, he shouldn't even have to be in here to begin with.

"Oh God…kid, I'm…I am _so _sorry for this." His apology came out hushed and his voice was ragged. One would think that being a lawyer would call for him to deflect blame in this situation, but he was determined to take _all _of it, instead.

"This is my fault. All of this is on me." At that point, he broke. Tears fell, and he let himself be as vulnerable right now than he had been in years.

For Lincoln, he felt like he was trying looking at Kara all over again. He remembered how guilt-ridden she was that she wasn't paying attention, and it seemed like this guy felt the exact same way. They both felt responsible for him being in the hospital, because if they had actually been focused in the moment it all happened, then no one would've gotten hurt. Lincoln wasn't about to drop the fact that this guy was driving, either. He was driving the car, so it was his personal responsibility to make sure he was operating it safely. Really, if Lincoln wasn't hit, he wasn't sure someone else would've down the road.

But far be it from Lincoln to criticize someone who was putting themselves through hell for the mistakes they make. What would yelling at the guy do? Feel cathartic? He would only get full closure from this mess if it ended on the best possible terms, and right now, seeing the fear and sorrow this guy had in his eyes, there was nothing for Lincoln to gain from getting upset over this. Really, he felt he should be ecstatic that this guy wasn't a conformation of his fears that he may very well have turned out to be an unrepentant jerk. It was with this that Lincoln said two simple words.

"It's okay."

"W-what?"

"I said it's okay."

All Braunen felt was disbelief. Should he be elated or concerned that he was forgiven by Lincoln so fast? "J-just like that?"

"Look, I can tell that you're not handling all of this well. That tells me that you regret what happened, so as long as you actually pay attention to the road next time…I'll forgive you."

The only thing Mr. Braunen felt in that moment was the feeling of being reborn. He should've been screamed at, told to go to hell for not paying attention and seeing the pedestrians in front of him. Instead, Lincoln just felt like he should forgive him. The emotion was palpable, and all he go do was slam his head down onto Lincoln's bed and say "Thank you" over and over again, leaving Lincoln to stare with a relaxed smile on his face. He wasn't looking for any sort of vengeance, he just wanted it to all be over with, and if this guy who hit him was this upset about what he did, then forgiveness was that much easier for him.

Eventually, Mr. Braunen left the room, with his police escort and Lincoln's parents waiting outside. Being that the girls had to get their snooping from somewhere, the two had listened in on the conversation, fully allowed by the police officers on the grounds that confidentiality didn't really apply to convicted criminals. Hearing how quick their son was to forgive Braunen, the parents felt they should do the same, they had a much tougher time doing it. That didn't stop him from approaching them about something.

"Listen, you two, I can't tell you enough how sorry I am that all of this happened. This was all on me, and it hurts even more knowing that I hit the wonderful young kid that your son is." Flattery would get him nowhere with the parents, even though they could tell he was being sincere. Still, that wasn't why he came over.

"I want to try and help. Because of my job, I've made a decent living over the past couple decades. I think you should have some of that to help with things like medical bills, anything you might get to help him out at home, things like that. Do you mind if I make a phone call real fast?"

"Go ahead." Lynn was curious at how much this guy was willing to give them. He talked like he was wealthy (and the fact that he owned a decked-out BMW 540i helped to validate that), but the two weren't sure how much. After telling him their address so he could have someone mail them the check for the money, he still remained silent on how much, saying that they should expect to see it in their mailbox in a couple days at max. Both sides parted on good terms before Mr. Braunen was taken away to prepare for his trial on the grounds of reckless driving and child endangerment. The Louds may not have been suing him, but the government, on behalf of the people, sure as heck was going to.

Two days came and went, and the parents eventually found in their mailbox what they were expecting. What they weren't expecting was the number on the check, completely convinced he added one too many zeroes.

The money he sent their way? Four million dollars.

They were practically prepared to faint, making the amount of money they got from the crowdfunding effort somewhat redundant. It wasn't anything to laugh at, though, and the end result made the family feel financially secure for once in their lives. Five hundred thousand dollars was raised, bringing the total amount the family received from all of this to $4.5 million dollars.

The best part for the family, but especially Lincoln, was that all of this was before the gifts everyone mailed to the McBrides were sent his way.

* * *

The days went on as the family (im)patiently waited for Lincoln's return. While they waited, they were approached multiple times by their friends asking how he was doing and how cool he was. Normally, Lincoln was the one that was being asked about his sisters, but one act flipped that around entirely. Many of the sisters' friends were making it their word to visit Lincoln when he got out of the hospital, as well as getting him a gift of some sort. The real fun was when Kara and her parents visited their house. Apparently, they visited Lincoln in the hospital to personally thank him for saving their daughter (and practically worshipped him on the side, which made him uncomfortable), and he gave them his address. He only did it because he thought they wanted it so they could send him something. As it turns out, they wanted to personally thank his parents, too. More groveling followed, and some of the sisters pulled Kara to the side to talk with her. They got along well enough, and Kara vowed to them that she would never take for granted what Lincoln did for her.

Eventually, the day came where Lincoln was allowed to finally return home. He came out, as expected, in a wheelchair with casts on both legs. What wasn't expected was the car his parents picked him up in. Almost immediately after they were sent the money, the first thing the parents bought (or rented, in this case) was a van that was wheelchair accessible. He had to expect this, since vanzilla was not, in any way, a van that could be converted for such a purpose, it's body and architecture too old for things like a ramp to be installed. This van was a typical minivan, a dark red Dodge Grand Caravan that was outfitted to carry people who were in a similar situation to him. He also knew that this van was too small to carry his entire family.

"So, are the girls not here?"

"Sorry to disappoint, sport, but they aren't. They wanted to drive separate in vanzilla, but they got into a fight before we left over who would ride with you on the way back. We didn't want you to have to deal with them like that, so we forced them to stay home."

His parents pushed him into the van, and even though the van wasn't much to write home about in comparison to other modern cars, it was _leagues _above vanzilla in what it had for features. Bluetooth connectivity, a back-up camera, a touchscreen infotainment system, a sound system that fully worked, it was nothing short of magical to be in a vehicle like this.

"You like it sport?"

"Very much." His eyes were completely glued on the infotainment screen, with the red and black backdrop and icons that appeared after his dad started it up.

Eventually, he stopped gawking over the car and spent his time staring out the window, excited to finally get back home again.

When he got home, his sisters wasted no time in showering him with hugs and affection. They were tempted to throw him a party, but they figured that, after staying in the hospital for so long, he would much rather just want to relax on his own accord. Plus, with his condition, it wasn't like he could actively engage in the party, especially if there was music. Still, that didn't stop the sisters from running to the store to get him a cake while the parents were out bringing him back home.

"Marble cake with white icing, Linky. I know how much you like it."

"Thanks Leni."

They spent some time eating cake while Lincoln told them about how much being in the hospital sucked. The doctors he had were very nice, but other than that, he wouldn't recommend it.

Once they finished, the rest of the night was spent making sure he was able to comfortably resettle into the home. The family got him a new smartphone, and because of this, the sisters settled on a help system where he would send them a text if he needed help with anything (no, Lisa was still not over having it). If he needed something they couldn't handle by themselves, they simply called for help or got another sister to do it.

Lincoln only ever planned to use the system when it was convenient for both him and his sisters. He didn't plan to use it for anything he deemed rigorous or very demanding. The closest thing to that would be when he wanted to go up and down the stairs for something (they didn't get a stair lift since he probably wouldn't be able to take his wheelchair up and down with him and someone would need to help him into the chair, anyway). He only ever planned to bring them in for simple things, such as helping him get something out of his reach, getting him a glass of ice water, and other things of that nature. Since bedtime was fixed for all the kids, he could count on both them and his parents to help him get ready for bed, and he imagined they would be ready to help him when he woke up, too.

Trips to the bathroom were going to be interesting and awkward, but the family had ways to make things a bit easier. The parents got their own bathroom working again after using some of the money they got and Lana's help, so the kids were the only ones who would use the upstairs bathroom now. Lincoln was allowed to use either, while the parents and sisters limited themselves only to their respective ones. A pee bag helped with the obvious, which Lana volunteered to empty when it got full, while a transfer board and some help from his sisters/parents helped when he needed to go number two. This was going to make for some great bonding moments, but when he had to go, he had to go.

He knew right away to not abuse their kindness. He learned his lesson after what happened with the beach vs amusement park mess. Besides, if the first night was any indication, he wouldn't have to text them too much, anyway. His sisters were very persistent in checking up on him, hanging out with him, and doing anything they felt could help him in any way. They were determined to make this work. This wasn't going to be like what happened with the Sister Fight Protocol. For Lincoln, success was the only option.

When they did things to help themselves, it was because of selfish desires, arrogance, and it's why they always failed. For Lincoln, however, they always did it for him, and it always led to success.

For Lincoln, they would do anything, and they were determined to not screw that up.

After the day ended and he was put to bed, his sisters all got to work on how they, themselves, could thank him, not just for what he did on that fateful day, but what he did for them all throughout the years.

* * *

**Like I said, this chapter had a lot happen in quick succession and I'm not sure if it was for better or worse. I read through it multiple times and thought it came out pretty good, just not one hundred percent perfect. It's possible I may come back to edit this chapter if it strikes me what specifically is annoying me about it and what I can do to improve it, or I'll read it again and find that there wasn't anything wrong with it after all. Both options are entirely possible. Even so, I can finally start writing the bonding chapters, which I've been looking forward to from the moment I posted the first chapter.**

**Now, some of you may have read this and were disappointed with the resolution between Lincoln and the lawyer, but I never intended for the guy to be a soulless jerk. I wanted there to be more to the guy than him simply being the guy that hit Lincoln with his car. In reading several different fanfictions spanning several different fandoms, something that I've seen several authors do that annoys me is just make these kinds of characters malevolent beings that are beyond redemption, completely defined by their bad actions. This is especially prevalent in stories where a character gets raped, and the antagonist seems to be portrayed in taking a perverse pride in just how bad they are. I always hated portrayals like that, as I find them to be a cheap excuse to create dramatic pathos for the victim. I'm not saying that people like that don't exist in the real world, but, to me, it just makes the characters annoying to read about.  
**

**Here, since I wanted this to be a feel-good story, I decided to make him someone who did it completely on accident and feels nothing but regret for his actions. That comes across as much more human to me, and therefore, makes that person a more interesting character. Plus, I've always liked redemption arcs, and since I wanted the guy to be remorseful and scared, I think he deserved one. As I said, it's a change from how I normally see his kind of character portrayed in other stories. **

**As a side note, that bit about Leni helping Lana build wooden ramps was inspired by the episode _Driving Miss Hazy, _where she took Lori's commands at face value and built her a beautifully-made new bed. I imagine Leni would want to do the same thing here, just on a smaller scale, her desire to make everything in her life beautiful convincing her to help Lana out. Plus, as seen in _Cover Girls, _all of the Loud siblings that can talk have their own cell phone, so I decided to use that as the means of Lincoln requesting help from his sisters. Sorry Lisa, but sometimes, you just come up with solutions that are more complicated than they need to be. **


	5. Lori and New Shoes

**As promised, we are finally getting around to individual bonding, and the first one up is...LORI! Yes, I know it's cliche to have the oldest start things off, but I actually didn't let her be the first simply because she was the oldest. The real reason was because she was the one that I had the easiest time conceptualizing. The sisters aren't going to show up in birth order, they're going to show up based on how easy they are for me to write about. Lori was just the first sister that I had a solid idea for, and because of that, she goes first. Hope you all enjoy (and just a heads up, small talk is back!). **

**Also, I see everyone liked the fact that I made the driver redeemable. Again, considering the story I'm writing it really would've been pointless to just write him as a jerk. I'm not even sure that would be the human response. I imagine most people would be completely mortified if they were in the guy's position. There's just nothing pragmatic about writing him any other way.**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Lincoln was resting in his room with some of the gifts that had been sent his way. He'd only been home for a week, but he had quite the fanbase once everyone found out what he did. Whenever the McBrides got a gift in the mail for Lincoln, they would drive it over to his house, and someone from his family would take it up to him.

The girls started to get a bit jealous at some of the stuff he got. He mostly got toys that people believed would be befitting for an eleven-year-old boy to enjoy. This included new video games, some Legos, puzzles, comics, and other stuff. There were also some gift cards thrown in, too. As he should've expected, he also got a few duplicates. He didn't want to return them, seeing as he didn't want to disappoint the senders, but it was pointless to buy two (or more) of the same thing. He was probably just going to have his parents donate what he wasn't going to use. Really, the best gifts were the gift cards, as he could trust himself to not buy the same thing twice and save them for when he really wanted something (or just give them to his sisters since he found a few gift cards for places like Bath & Body Works mixed in. Who the heck thought that was a good gift for an eleven-year-old boy?).

There were a few gem gifts sent his way, though. He got a brand-new Snap with expanded memory for more games, a new tv for his room, and his favorite gift out of all of them, a new Microsoft Surface. Lincoln fawned over that thing from the moment he got it. Any worry the sisters had about him being bored and lonely when they weren't around were completely dashed at that point. Seeing as he was injured, he had a lot of free time on his hands, and he spent a good majority of it just drawing on it. Lincoln had been looking for an excuse to get into art for a while, but he never fully committed because of how much of his time was spent helping his sisters with their own things. Now, he had all the time in the world, really, and by gosh, did he enjoy it?

Today was a Friday, roundabout 2:50, so his sisters would be home soon. He was familiar enough with the let-out times to know that Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan would get out first, followed by Lynn, and finally, everyone younger than he was. He would've been with them, too, if not for the obvious. He had spent much of his day working on an Ace Savvy drawing. He just started it today, so it was in its early stages, but he had plans for drawing a detailed battle scene between his favorite hero and one of the villains, Black Jack. Lincoln always enjoyed the battle sequences between the two, and he wanted to draw a stylized version of a fight.

Losing track of time (again), he was caught off guard when Lori came into his room unannounced. His jump caused him to screw up a line he was trying to precisely curve, but it wasn't anything the undo command couldn't fix so he could try again.

"Hey Linc. You feel up for a ride?"

"Depends. Where are we going?"

"The mall."

Of course, that was the destination. It was always the mall. He swore he could recreate the blueprints for the place considering how many times his sisters took him there.

"Hard pass. I'm not going just so I can watch you shop for a new pair of shoes and some golf clubs."

"It's not for me, idiot. It's for you. I think it's time you finally got some new shoes of your own."

That actually was a good reason. While Lori seemed to buy five new pairs a month (helped along by how much Clyde bleeds on them), Lincoln never thought to get new ones himself. Coming from a big family, the budget was always capped and locked for each kid, and he preferred to spend money on new comics. He really didn't think much about his clothing, other than that he liked wearing the color orange. So much did he not care about his apparel that even when the soles of his shoes were ready to fall off, he was content with a quick staple and away he went to continue his day.

Now, though, his family actually did have money to spend (though his parents were still budget-minded, giving the family only some of it to spend while the rest was either put into the bank or invested), and it really wasn't the best idea to walk around in shoes that could just give out at any moment. If there was one thing Lincoln actually did need to buy for himself, it was a new pair of shoes.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Okay. Let's go."

"Cool."

She hollered for some help in taking Lincoln downstairs, which was answered by Luna. She took Lincoln down the stairs while Lori had the wheelchair. He wasn't sure if he enjoyed being carried up and down the stairs. While he knew it couldn't be helped and he appreciated what his sisters were doing for him, it made him feel like a wimp. A stairlift would've been nice on that front, but he knew that it wasn't the best investment in a family that had so many able-bodied people that were ready to help him. Plus, it was much quicker.

Luna set him into the chair when all three got to the bottom. "Thanks, Luna. We'll be back later."

"Sure thing, dudes. I'll tell the 'rents." While the other sisters would've like to go as well, Lori was the only one home that didn't have pre-planned commitments. That, and a bit of a ladies' agreement the sisters settled on earlier in the week. Basically, if a sister wanted to be alone with Lincoln, no one was allowed to interpose unless clearly told that they could.

Lori walked him out to the van, loaded him up inside, and drove them to their destination. While on their way to the mall, Lincoln took the time to start some small talk with Lori.

"So, you excited for college?"

"Yeah, but a bit nervous. It'll be so weird living without you guys close by, and this time when I move out, I can't just ask to move back in."

"Are you talking about when you moved into the garage?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Trust me, it's gonna be strange for me too. I've never lived in that house when everyone in the family wasn't close by."

"Looks like we'll both need to adjust."

"Yeah." A short silence followed. "So, is there anything you _are _excited about?"

"Not having to share my food with you guys."

"Hey, I'm not the one you have to watch out for."

"I know. Everyone else, on the other hand, literally a different story."

"So how exactly does a meal plan work, because I heard you, mom, and dad talk about it, but I got so confused hearing about things like 'swipes' and 'dollars' and just…yeesh. Way more complicated than it sounds like it should be."

"Okay, here how it works. In college, you have a lot of places to eat beyond the cafeteria. Like high school, colleges have their own cafeteria to eat at, but they also have places to eat like Starbucks, fast food, things like that. As you would expect from restaurants like that, they charge cash for when you buy something from them, because there's a big difference in price between buying an iced tea and buying a full meal. So, what colleges do is they give you several different ways to pay, depending on where you go. If you go to the cafeteria, they'll take a swipe. If you go to Starbucks, they'll take some money you have put down on your card. I'm with you in that it sounds more complicated than it needs to. Personally, I'd rather they get rid of the swipes and just give us more dollars. That seems like it would make things much easier."

"Agreed, but you can get into a place with just one use of your card?"

"As long as you have enough swipes or money on it, yeah."

"And is it all-you-can-eat?"

"If it's the cafeteria, then yes."

"Oh man, college is going to be awesome." Lori couldn't help but laugh when she heard that.

"I knew you'd say something like that once I told you about it."

Another short silence followed before Lincoln spoke up again.

"So, do you know what degree you want to get?"

"Well…uh…no, not really. I'm going in undecided."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm so set on being a professional golfer that I don't know what I should pick for my actual studies."

"Well, what about something like psychology? I see a lot of people graduating with those."

"No, that's not my thing."

"Okay, well, what about History? That seems like an easy degree to get."

"Uh, Lincoln? No offense, but I literally want to make my time in college meaningful, and trust me when I say that there are some worthless degrees that you can get when you go."

"It's _college. _How worthless can going there be?"

"Trust me Lincoln. The more you grow up, the more you start to recognize what makes success, and unless you love the idea of being in debt, there are literally college degrees out there that a person should _not _be going to college for. Once you look up salaries for different jobs, you start to reconsider things, and there isn't much money to be had in going for something like Art History."

"Okay, point taken, but what about something like English? Most successful writers I know about have gone to school for that."

"Do you really expect me to believe that it's worth paying something like thirty thousand a year for a bunch of classes that are nothing but essay writing? Try again."

"Hey, all I'm saying is that, a lot of times, success comes from going to college."

"Yeah, if you go for something that literally takes you places."

"_Again, _it's college."

"_Again, _some degrees are worthless."

"Alright, look. We can keep going back and forth about this all day, so let's make things easier. Do you have a quarter?"

She stopped at a red light, reached into her pocket and pulled one out, a bit confused. "Yeah, why?"

"We'll let God decide for us." She now understood what he was getting at.

"Alright. I'm okay with that." She handed it to him so he could flip it.

He called the sides. "Okay. Heads, it's worth going to college for anything. Tails, only for certain degrees."

"Deal."

He flicked his thumb up and the coin flipped in the air. It landed in his right hand, and he promptly smacked it onto his left backhand. He leaned over so that his hand could be seen in the rearview. Tails.

"Dang it!"

"Ooohhh!" Lori held out her arm and gestured what she said with her index finger and thumb. "Lori Loud, one. Brother, zero and an L." He simply shook his head and pointed his eyes to the ceiling, but couldn't contain the small smile that was forming on his face, which he held for a few seconds. The light turned green and they continued on their way.

"But seriously, do you have any idea what you might want to do?"

"Truth be told, I'm leaning towards business management. I wouldn't mind running my own business someday. Either that or Law."

"Okay, those actually do sound like good degrees to get. If you do ever go into business, do you have a product you'd like to sell?"

"No, not at the moment. I'm thinking cosmetics, but there are so many companies already that I have no idea how I could literally compete with the rest of them."

"Trust me, Lori. If there's one thing I've learned from being around you guys for so long, it's that there is both too many and not enough skin car products to go around."

Lori could only laugh at that remark. She's certainly had her fair share of times when she was walking through the cosmetics aisle and couldn't find anything to fit her tastes. Looks like Lincoln was taking notes when he went shopping with his sisters.

Eventually, they reached the mall, and the first store Lori sought out to take him to wasn't her usual place to buy shoes (aka the stores that only catered to women), but rather, a store more befitting for someone like Lynn, Dick's. Normally, Lori never even thinks to go in here, as her clothing preferences were served better by other stores, but she knew Lincoln would like the selection better than where she shopped. Well, that and she knew they sold men's shoes here.

Lincoln scanned through the different styles, colors, and brands, picking out the shoes he liked and set aside for when he came back around to pick out which pair he liked the most. He was even about to ask the associates if he could try a few pairs on and-…oh. Oh, right. The casts. Neither of the two siblings even thought about that, as Lori was doing this to be kind to her brother, and Lincoln was too pre-occupied with the prospect of getting new shoes. Upon realizing this, they both just laughed at how absentminded they were. "Welp…" Lincoln said. "Guess I won't be trying these on, after all."

"How did we literally forget about that?"

"I don't know" he said before falling back into a fit of laughter. "Well, change of plans, I guess." He started moving his chair while Lori was still suffering her own case of the giggles and went back to the shoes he originally liked.

Because Dick's has a 60-day return policy, he decided to put himself into the mindset that his injury would take longer than that to heal, so he had to be careful about the shoes he picked out. He started by sticking with the brand of shoe he already owned, Adidas, as he trusted them to make comfortable shoes. Next, he focused on which had the best design. In going back through, he found a specific design he wasn't sure how he missed the first time around (or maybe he was just too focused on looking at the time). It was a grey pair with white souls, the three dashes on the side being orange. Yeah, all he needed to see was the orange to be convinced that this was the pair he wanted to buy. He tried his best to get a gauge on how much support the shoes had using his hands, but that didn't do much to help him. He felt the typical amount of give he usually felt in soles, so he might as well not have bothered. It also didn't help that he was about to buy a pair of shoes listed as $99.99. But, life's full of gambles, and he simply liked the design too much to just let it sit there and risk it being gone in the next few months.

"I think I want these ones" he said to Lori, who, by now, had rejoined him.

"You sure, Linc? You can't try them on right now. What if you don't like them?"

He simply shrugged. "I like the design too much. What can I say?"

It was a risk to buy the pair, in case he didn't find them comfortable, but they went ahead and did it anyway. Besides, they both knew a couple sneaker heads that could help them flip the pair if needed. And so, they paid (with the person behind the register acknowledging who Lincoln was) and left the store. If Lincoln was worried about the shoes not being comfortable, that worry was deeply buried. He was smiling while they were leaving, happy to just have new shoes, but also shoes that, he thought, looked this good.

Lori had planned to also take him to the comic book store and, if she could convince him, one of the tenant stores to see if there weren't any good deals she could cash in on. But first, she took him to the food court to get a snack. As they sat and ate their pretzels, they started talking again.

"So, does Bobby know?"

"About what?"

"About…" he just gestured to his legs.

"Oh. Yeah, he does. He's going to make a trip out at some point to see you."

He shifted uneasily in his seat. If Bobby knew, that meant Ronnie Anne probably did, too. He should've expected that, seeing as their Skype chats would've clued her into something being wrong if the wheelchair showed up in the background, but that doesn't mean he liked thinking of how she might respond. The same went for all of his other friends. He hated the idea of having them see him in such a state.

"Are you thinking about Ronnie Anne?"

"Her and everyone else I know. I don't know why, but I don't like the thought of them seeing me like this."

"How come?"

"Well…just look at me."

She could pick up on what he was talking about. "Lincoln, I don't think your friends are going to care one bit about how you look. If they know what you did that resulted in this, you'll literally be the most popular kid in school."

"Great. More attention."

"I doubt it'll be that bad."

I'm just worried everyone is going to overreact." He decided now was a good time to be truthful with her. "Did dad tell you why you guys weren't allowed to come into my room all at once?"

"So we didn't overwhelm you."

"Did he tell you that it was by my request?"

"No, but mom alluded to it. It's alright, Linc. I can understand you not wanting everyone to just drown you in attention and questions. Believe me, as the oldest, I know all too well what it's like to just have everything come at you all at once and have no idea how you can defend yourself."

Lincoln took a second to respond, looking down at his lap before looking back up to her. "It's not easy trying to handle all of us, is it?"

"Not always…and I imagine it's not easy trying to handle all of us, either." A bit of guilt started to hit Lori as she started to think back to all of the times she and her sisters went after Lincoln for any number of reasons. Because it was one brother with ten sisters, there was always going to be a divide between the two parties, but Lincoln wasn't exactly someone who got the best treatment in the family, especially when all of his sisters were against him.

"Listen, I'm sorry for any time I came across as overbearing, whether it be with our sisters or on my own. I guess we can be hard to deal with when we all get together. From now on, I'll try and separate myself from them and try to give you more room to breathe. You deserve that much." While she wasn't sure if she could entirely make it up to him, this was the best thing she felt she could do, give him an actual chance to explain himself. It was something he greatly appreciated.

"Thanks, Lori. And thanks for buying me the shoes today, too."

"No problem. Hopefully, when you can actually try them on, you'll still like them."

They spent a bit more time eating their pretzels before an idea came to Lori. "Hey, do you want to take a selfie with me?"

"Why would I?"

"You're worried about how people will react to seeing you like this, right? Well, I can literally tell you that, if my peers are anything to go by, they're more concerned about you just being alive and well than stuck in a wheelchair." She showed him the messages on her phone that asked if he was okay, doing alright in the days since, and how cool it was of him to do that. "All anyone cares about is that you're okay, so come on. Let's give everyone some good news."

It was hard to argue with all of the messages on her phone. Maybe she was right, they weren't concerned about him being in a wheelchair, they were concerned about him just being alive. Yeah, they definitely deserved to hear some good news.

"Alright. Fine."

Lori lined up behind the chair and held her phone out to their right side. Lincoln went with a bit of a cheesy look, wearing a closed smile and winking into the camera, his hand formed in a rocker pose that Luna was so fond of doing. Lori winked to the camera as well, with a bigger smile on her face than his, though both came across as natural. She took the picture, and liking the results, she posted it.

She never got so many likes for a selfie than that one.

* * *

Lincoln found a couple new issues of Ace Savvy to buy while at the shop. Afterwards, Lori tried to persuade Lincoln to allow her to take a trip to the closest department store. Feeling like she deserved to have some time to herself, he greenlit it, though he wasn't sure why she wouldn't just take them there anyway. Sure, trips to those stores weren't to his tastes, but it's not like he minded going. At least, without Lily being around this time, he could just play around on his phone. There were a few good time-wasters disguised as apps that he could use to amuse himself.

Lori spent a bit of time rummaging through the sale items and clearance rack looking for some cute clothes to buy, while Lincoln did as advertised and played a few mobile games (though he wished he had his Snap to play some Smash). Lori found a couple cute spring dresses, and finally, the two were set to be on their way home. While driving back, a song they both loved came on the radio and they started singing, taking turns as to who sang what parts of the song

(Lori)

_My eyes are open wide_

(Both)

_By the way_

(Lori)

_I made it through the day_

(Lincoln)

_I watch the world outside_

(Both)

_By the way_

(Lincoln)

_I'm leaving out today_

(Both, first line misquoted)

_Well I just saw Halley's comet shooting_

_Said, "Why you always running in place?"_

_Even the man in the moon disappeared_

(Both, aggressively)

_Somewhere in the stratosphere_

_Tell my mother, tell my father_

_I've done the best I can_

_To make them realize, this is my life_

_I hope they understand_

_I'm not angry, I'm just saying_

_Sometimes, goodbye is a second chance_

They kept this up all the way to the end of the song. Brother and sister trading lyrics and singing their own parts of the song. When it ended, they couldn't help but smile. It was just like when they were even younger, when songs they both liked came on and they would just belt the words out together.

When the two siblings made it back, Lori unhooked Lincoln out of the van and pushed him into the house, the elegant ramp covering the steps outside helping him in. "Thanks for taking me, Lori."

"No problem, Lincoln. I'm just glad you enjoyed yourself." Upon their entry into the house, every sister that was home greeted the two of them, ready to sit with Lincoln in the living room until dinner was ready. Lori, meanwhile, had her phone go off with three separate phone calls from Carol, Witney, and Dana. She combined the three calls into a group call and answered all of them.

"_Lori, I saw the picture! I'm so glad to hear your brother's okay!"_

"Thanks Dana."

"_Why didn't you tell us you two were going to be there? We could've met you guys out there."_

"Sorry, Carol, but I just wanted it to be the two of us."

"_Well, next time, tell us when you two are out. I want to see him."_

"_So, did you guys have fun?"_

"Yeah, we did."

"_He's looking good. A lot better than what I feared."_

"_No scratches. No bruises. He looks like he'll be good in no time."_

"You didn't see his legs, though."

"_How bad are they?"_

"Bad enough that you should never take walking for granted. He's stuck in a wheelchair for the next month, at least."

"_Oh God! I'm so sorry to hear that!"_

"_Is there anything we can do to help?"_

"No, he's doing fine. In fact, I'm not sure he even notices much considering I've walked into his room to see him doing nothing but drawing on his tablet. Literally, every time I walked in, he was always on his tablet."

"_Well, at some point, we're making a visit to see him, so mark it down."_

"You guys sure? He only really knows Carol."

"_We can visit together. It'll be under the guise of us just meeting up at your house to hang out."_

"_Speaking of guise, you'll never believe what Bianca did with Luke!" _And so, the gossip began.

* * *

Like she did when she first announced to him that she wanted to take him to the mall, Lori walked in to Lincoln's room to see him still drawing on his tablet.

"Are you ever going to get off of that thing?"

"Only if I have to. When I don't, not until these creases are perfect."

"Can one of those times be now?"

"Not if it's another mall run. I had fun today, but there's only so much of that place I can take."

"No, it's not that. I just want to talk."

"About what?"

About what I said earlier. I know I already said it, but I want to say it again. I'm sorry for not being fair to you over the years."

"I already forgave you, Lori."

"I know, but…I just want you to know that I mean it, and…I'm also sorry that it took you getting injured for me to realize it."

"It's okay, Lori. Just please tell me you were telling the truth about giving me a chance against you guys."

"I did mean it, and if I ever relapse, don't be afraid to remind me of what I said."

"Thanks." He held his arms out and she responded by walking to him and hugging him. It really helped knowing she was going to try and be on his side whenever his back was against the wall.

"And Lori?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not going overboard today."

"You're welcome. I figured you'd appreciate that." He did. In his condition, the last thing he wanted was a desperate attempt to make this the best day he ever had. He also didn't want someone catering to his every whim. He just wanted to be treated as normally as his condition would allow. The fact that she was buying him a few things was more of an added bonus. Lori, just from being around the longest, figured it's what he would've liked.

They released their hug, and Lincoln asked if she could help him get ready for bed, which she agreed. It was still early (the clock read 8:46), but he felt ready for this day to be over, not because he had a bad day, but because there wasn't much else for him to do. He accomplished a lot in just a few hours with just a simple trip to the mall. His bond with Lori had was stronger than ever, and he had something to look forward to when he eventually got his casts off in the form of wearing new shoes. He just felt content with the day and was all to happy to let it end so it wouldn't be ruined.

Eventually, Lori helped Lincoln into bed, just as ready as he was to let the day end, feeling content with everything that happened. After helping him pull the covers over him, she gave him one last hug and left, but not before telling him something.

"Hey Linc?"

"Yeah?"

"Some friends called me up today, and you don't have to worry. They said you looked good, given what happened."

That helped. At least he could probably count on Lori's friends to treat him normally if they saw him like this.

* * *

**The song used was Second Chance by Shinedown, a song I always used to jam to as a kid (and still do). I actually know a few girls who share the same taste in music as Lori (really, just name a boy band and they're probably a fan) and also love this song, so I don't see it as OOC for her to like that song. Honestly though, you can replace that song with any hit song from the mid-2000s onward and it would've had the same impact.**

**Now, let this chapter serve as insight for what the rest of the sisters are going to do. I'm not having any of them do anything extravagant, overly complicated, or otherwise over-the-top. As stated in the chapter, Lincoln doesn't want to be suffocated with kindness, he just wants to be treated normally. He'll gladly accept kind gestures, but he doesn't want to be worshiped like a god. I just feel that there is greater payoff in their bonding coming from the subdued and mundane. There's more intimacy when someone wants to do something simple and nice for another person, which can't exactly be said for doing something along the lines of throwing a huge party or something along those lines.**

**And to end on a fun fact, that part about Lincoln and Lori forgetting that he was wearing casts on his legs came from my own absentmindedness when writing this chapter. Yes, I actually neglected to realize that Lincoln wouldn't be able to try any shoes on given his condition ('cause I'm smart!). Rather than change everything, I just decided to roll with it, and have the characters realize the issue as well. I still count that as realistic, seeing as I've had plenty of moments like that with my own family.**


	6. Lola, Drawing, and Hugs

**Time for an unpopular opinion: Lola is my favorite sister. Yes, I know she's had some bad moments, but just can't help it. Her and Lincoln just work so well together when they are given screen time, and I absolutely adore their relationship and older brother, younger sister dynamic. It's why Out of the Picture stands as one of my favorite episodes in the series. So, this chapter will have her in the spotlight. Apologies if she comes across as a bit out of character in this chapter, as I tried to hone in on the fact that she was six years old. This chapter also isn't as dialogue driven as the last one was. Hope everyone enjoys.**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon.**

* * *

In any other situation, she would've stood there impatiently. Sure, she wanted the cookies to be done, but if there's one thing that pageantry has taught her, it's that you can rush perfection, and she wanted these to come out perfect. They were for Lincoln, after all, and he deserved to have the best cookies in the world: hers, although she made them literally no different than the last several times she made them. The only difference was that, this time, instead of her arms being crossed and her foot tapping in annoyance, she was happily thinking about how much Lincoln would appreciate what she was doing for him.

She felt this would be a great way to help him take his mind off of things while he was still injured and stuck in a wheelchair. Of course, he really couldn't just forget about that (it's kind of hard to forget that you can't walk), but the least she could do was make things more bearable, and what better way for someone to get comfortable than with a freshly-made platter of chocolate chip cookies, with freshly-made translating into heating up some of her dad's batch of cookie dough he made the night before for her. He would've made it fresh today, but because he now worked mostly weekends on the account of Lincoln needing someone home on weekdays when the girls were at school, this was the best he could do.

There was really no point in getting frustrated with him. Owner of a company or not, he was still one of two people working to provide for the house. She would've preferred freshly-made dough to refrigerated, but still homemade, dough, but she would take what she could get. Besides, this being her dad's recipe, they would turn out just as well.

Eventually, the timer went off, and inside her mini-oven lied her fresh batch of cookies, the smell of which caused all of her sisters to come running. Since Lola was Lola, she knew that despite being outnumbered and outsized, she could still hold them off with ease.

"BACK OFF!" Her voice. It was all she needed. "These are for Linky, not you. Now SCRAM!"

Her sisters immediately ducked, upset at not getting a cookie, while Lana stayed, since this was her room, too.

"So, uh…do you need any help?"

"Thanks Lana, but I actually want him to _enjoy _my cookies."

"Oh, come on. I'm not that bad."

"Lana, you're the girl that once tried using cut-up earth worms instead of raisins for a batch of oatmeal cookies."

"Yeah, and it was the best thing I ever came up with."

"To you. The rest of us, not so much."

"I'm being serious, though, Lols. I can't think of anything to do for Lincoln, but I need to do something for him. I feel terrible that it's taking me so long to figure something out." Lola could sense the sincere frustration in Lana's voice, and having plenty of moments like that herself, she wanted to help. But she also wanted to spend some time with Lincoln, and considering the cookies were fresh out of the oven, she wanted to get them to him as soon as possible.

"I'm sorry, Lana, but right now, I really want to do this for Lincoln. How about we talk about this later on, after I'm done?"

As much as Lana wanted to find a solution now, she didn't want to screw her sister out of spending time with Lincoln, especially with all of the work she already put in. "Ok" was what she responded with. Lola didn't want to leave Lana hanging like that, but she wanted to get her cookies to Lincoln when they were at their best.

She knocked on his door and opened it up to see him drawing on his Surface, just as Lori had seen him doing. She wondered if now was a good time to interrupt, as she saw the digital pen moving at a fairly fast rate. She wasn't much in the way of an artist, especially at the level of dedication he was, but she could guess that Lincoln was pretty engrossed with what he was doing. She was half-tempted to leave, but Lincoln saw her in his peripheral vision and stopped what he was doing.

"Oh, hey Lola."

"Hi Linky. I, uh…I brought you these."

"Aww, thanks sis. Come on in." He immediately disregarded his tablet, his focus now on having a cookie. She felt a bit guilty for coming in at a time where he looked like he was at his peak, but she still complied, and the sincere happiness in his voice when she said she had made some cookies for him didn't go unnoticed.

He took the platter from her and set them on his desk. He then took two cookies, one for him and one for her. Even in a state like this, where he could've exercised his crippled condition to his advantage, he still thought of her and wanted to make sure she wasn't left out of this as well. There were quite a few on the plate, and since she made them, she deserved a few of them, too. As expected, they were delicious, and even better, the chocolate chips were still gooey. Nothing could beat the taste and texture of a cookie right out of the oven.

Since they weren't doing anything else, she might as well strike up a conversation. "So…how're your legs doing?"

"Getting better. It'll take some time before the casts come off and I can start wearing boots, but it'll happen at some point."

"Can you still feel them?"

"Oh yeah…but sometimes, I kind of wish I didn't. The pain sucks, especially if I don't take my pain pills."

"You're hurting?!" It was enough to make Lola run right to him.

"It's alright, Lola. It's supposed to hurt. There's nothing wrong. It's just my body working to heal from this."

While still concerned, she did back off. Even if he was hurt, at least it was expected that he was. "S-sorry. I just…"

"Oh no. You're fine. I understand."

She needed to change the topic back to normal conversation. "Uh…so, what's it like sitting in a chair all day?" She made a mental note to smack herself for asking that later. 'Really?' she thought. 'That's what you decided to ask him?'

"Well…if I'm being honest, it's kind of tiring. I'm not bored, since I have my tablet to draw stuff on and watch videos with. Plus, I have all my comics, but it doesn't mean I'm actually doing much like exercising. Really, I'm just stuck here, not able to move around much." _*Sigh* _"Word of advice, Lols: never take something as simple as walking for granted. You'll hate not having it if you ever lose it."

While that absolutely did apply to walking (she made it a point to pay more attention to small things like that), really, that could just as easily apply to Lincoln. Six is far too young to have to witness someone get hit by a car, much less the person getting hit being her own brother. After that, the panic of him possibly dying set in.

She didn't want him to. He was one of the two siblings closest to her, and really, it was a dogfight for who took that spot at the top. Lana, being her twin, was always going to be close to her. That's just a fact when it comes to twins. They are always drawn to each other. They have that connection, and no amount of fighting would change that barring one of catastrophic proportions.

But Lana was nowhere near as helpful to her as Lincoln was. He was her pageant coach, her tutor. A good portion of her life revolved around him simply being there to help her. If he didn't exist, then it would've taken much longer for the family to find out that she struggled with reading, and no one in the family had anywhere near his level of patience to teach her.

He was also great at giving comforting hugs…and she could've really used one right now.

She walked up to him and tried to climb up the side of the wheelchair…until she stumbled over because the wheels weren't locked in place, so she fell to the ground, screaming "WAH!" during her short trip to the floor. It garnered some amusement out of Lincoln, and he couldn't help but laugh, though he did work to lock his wheels in place and ask her if she was okay. She was a stubborn person when it came to making mistakes, so she responded with a huff and a face red with embarrassment.

"Not funny, Lincoln" she said, climbing up to him properly this time.

"Sorry" was all he said as his chuckles died out, and he helped get her up to his lap. Her embarrassment gave way to a downer look on her face. "What's wrong?" She didn't say anything in response, instead leaning against his chest and wrapping her arms around him, letting her cuddling do the talking.

When it came to Lola, she was always big on hugging, never afraid to give them out to her loved ones. However, because of how self-centered she was, it was often the norm for her to go right back to doing her own thing when she let go of the person. Cuddling was different, because when it happened, it only meant one thing; she was distressed. It happened when thunder woke her up in the middle of the night, it happened when she suffered nightmares, and pretty much any time she was scared about something. She just needed someone to hold her and remind her that everything was okay.

"Are you going to get better soon?"

"I should be, but it can't be rushed."

"So, not actually soon?"

"Soon if you mean in a few months."

"But I want you to get better now."

"I do, too. I wish I could."

"Then get Lisa to-"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"You know what her experiments are like. If I get injected with something she made and it backfires, this whole thing could take a lot longer to heal from, if I could even heal from it to begin with. Trust me, I want to get better as much, if not more than you, but I also want to heal with the least amount of risk."

"But she could make you better quicker…if it works."

"Yeah, _if._ I'm sorry, Lola, but I don't want to suffer anymore than I have to." Why did he have to use the word 'suffer'? It was that word that made her so concerned about him in the first place. Sure, she could be a pain to deal with, but this kind of suffering was just way too much. No matter how high her level of rage got, she never actually wanted to see anyone in her family, especially him, in this condition. If she did, it was in the heat of the moment. Legit crippling was too much for her to handle.

"I just want you to be like your old self again, Linky…" Her voice got softer as she buried her face into his chest. Neither said anything for a few moments, too focused on trying to either comfort or find comfort in the other. Considering it was these two, it didn't take too long for both of them to feel at ease again, as both were good at cuddling, with extra points going to Lincoln since he was always so good at making her feel better. No offense to anyone else in her family, but the girls just couldn't help her the way he could, and her parents were too tall to cuddle her the way she liked to be.

Eventually, she turned her attention to the tablet sitting on his bed. "What were you doing when I came in?"

"Just drawing. Care to see?" She nodded, and he reached behind him to grab it off of his bed. He woke the screen up and showed her what he had completed so far, an unfinished drawing of the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. It wasn't done yet, but it was already shaping up to be a beautiful picture. Lincoln spared no thought to cutting corners when he was drawing it and wanted to give it as much detail as he could. It was the only way he felt his drawing could live up to the real thing, itself an unfinished beauty.

Religious structures had quickly become a favorite of Lincoln's to draw. While neither he, nor his family were the most religious people in the world (his beliefs could be summed up as 'I believe in God, and that's about it'), he couldn't deny the architectural beauty that were these structures. The grand scale of some of these buildings and what they stood for really inspired Lincoln. To him, this is where the best art came from, a person's desire to create the best they could possibly make and leave nothing to be forgotten or inferior to the rest of the work.

Of course, Lola wasn't too familiar with this new side to him, so she asked "Why are you drawing this?"

"Because, in real life, it looks like this." He pulled up an image of it he had open in Edge. One look of the place was all she needed to see to understand why Lincoln would want to draw it. The structure was completely packed with detail upon detail of religious iconography, and there didn't seem to be any part of the structure that could be described as boring or mediocre. She wasn't much of an architecture nerd (her focus on being seen as a princess made castles the only kind of structures she cared about), but even she had to admit that this place didn't look half bad. Maybe, when it was finished and actually had a full crown, she'd hazard to call it beautiful.

She handed the tablet back to him and asked "So how much do you like drawing."

"Quite a bit, as I'm finding out."

"Enough to want to draw a portrait of your little sister?"

"You mean now?"

"Only if you want to."

Wait. Did Lola just give him _a choice _in the matter? He actually had control over how this went? Lola didn't give him much time to answer, though, as she got off of his lap and announced "I'm going to get us some tea" and scampered off to her room to pick up her teapot and two teacups, the tea having already been prepared and had sugar already mixed in. She came back and poured him his share. "For you, Linky" she happily announced.

"Thank you, Lola" he answered back, mimicking her happy tone. They both sipped their tea down before putting the cups to the floor. He grabbed another cookie from the tray while she approached him again, but instead of climbing back up onto the wheelchair, she simply leaned against the side of it, leaning her head on his left arm.

"Soooo, do you think I'm pretty?"

"Yeah. Of course, I do."

"Even more than that church you're drawing?"

He quickly sucked in some air through his teeth. "Ooooo. Now that's a tough one." Now came a game of teasing as the two continued talking, with Lincoln leaning over in his chair to drape his arm over Lola, her grabbing it and hugging it.

"Come on, Linky. Don't tell me your little princess can't compare to an old building."

"Okay, first off, it's a building that's not finished yet, and second, I thought princesses cared about castles, not churches."

"Well, I'm the princess, and as a princess, I'm allowed to choose what buildings are beautiful and which ones aren't, and I say that that church _is_ beautiful, just not as beautiful as me." She started to swing around using his arm like a pole, with Lincoln using his strength to pull his arm to the opposite direction of her to allow the motion, stopping when she swung to the other side of where she started. She started moving like she was dancing, constantly moving around his arm, hugging it, and swinging with it. Lincoln thought it was the most adorable thing in the world and couldn't help but smile.

"I'm not that's how it works, but okay I guess, though I still think the church is just a _smidge _prettier than you." Like with Lori at the hospital, his smile told Lola that he was just playing around.

"Linky, ah. And I thought you were my prince." She said that in the single most dramatic way possible.

"I am, and I still think you are a very pretty young girl." He leaned over and kissed her head, earning himself the cutest smile ever from Lola. She then gave his arm a legitimate hug, and just clung to him. It seemed like she was in a bit of a mood to dance, though, so he reached over for his tablet, struggling this time since he was using the arm farther away from it, his close one being given the hug. Lola saw he was trying to reach it and gave it to him, returning to the hug she was giving his arm. He opened up EyeTube and searched for a song he wasn't the craziest about, but knew that Lola liked. He'd peaked into her room a few times to see her dancing to it, but whenever he interrupted, she scrambled to turn it off, almost like she was embarrassed about it.

Whatever, he always thought it was cute, so he went ahead and played it anyway. The sound of Andy Grammar suddenly filled the room as his song Fresh Eyes started playing. Lola knew immediately why he chose that song and her cheeks were, once again, red. She looked up to see her brother subtly nodding his head to the music (for him, this song just amounted to catchy white noise). She couldn't help but crack a smile and decided to just go ahead and dance. It wasn't any sort of dancing that required much effort, but the two were content, nonetheless, to just move their heads (and for Lola, her hips) to the music. Content really was the best word. With Lincoln being in a wheelchair unable to walk, and Lola worrying about him and wanting to make sure he was as comfortable as he could be, both were happy to take their minds off of things and spend some time with each other without caring about everything that's been going on. He even added a bit of show to the dance by lifting his arm up and letting her twirl. She made a note to see if she couldn't convince him to treat her to a dance or two in her room when he was fully healed.

After the song ended and a few more cookies were eaten, he eventually asked her "So, do you want me to make a portrait of you?"

"Can you, please?"

"Yeah. I just need my notebook and a pencil." He wanted the product to be on physical paper so she could take it with her when he finished. One of his gifts was a new notebook, which was very much appreciated. When he went back to school, he was going to use it as his physical sketch book he could pull out whenever he had moments of free time. She grabbed it for him, and a pencil, and he instructed her to sit on his bed and strike a pose he could draw. She settled on a fairly simple pose, her legs crossed underneath her dress, her arm resting on her hip sassily, and her head confidently cocked to the side, though her eyes were still directed at Lincoln himself. After he made sure this is what she wanted, he started sketching away.

For the next few hours, Lincoln worked to make his sketch something beautiful. He did Lola a solid by drawing her face first (that way, when he was done, she could freely move it around). After that, he focused on her body, which was much easier since he didn't have to worry about detailing so many different features.

One would think that Lincoln would just be doing this to get it over with, since this was Lola, the one sister who always got what she wanted it seemed like. Instead, he was passionate with his drawing. He showed the same determination to not screw up and make this look good as he did when he was working on the cathedral drawing and the fight scene drawing. Maybe it was the fact that he was part of a family that had an incredibly strong work ethic, but he didn't like the idea of projects that would be seen as throwaways, drawings you do when someone asks you to and have no motivation to do it, leading to an often mediocre piece. Rather, he treated every drawing like it was a baby freshly wrapped in a blanket after exiting the womb, with extreme care and determination to make sure they would succeed.

Lola couldn't help but be captivated in watching Lincoln work. Once she was allowed to move her head again, she couldn't help but stare at her brother as he tenaciously worked on the piece. His eyes never broke from the page, except when he needed to look back up at her to make sure he was drawing her pose right. They were simultaneously working overtime to keep up with what was being drawn and what he was recalling from seeing her pose, but they were also fairly relaxed. They weren't like Lynn's eyes when she was playing a sport, almost like grenades ready to go off. He was relaxed, as if knowing this was going to turn out well anyway. She was partially right, as Lincoln was confident in his ability to draw well (that Ace Savvy drawing he did came out stunning when it was finished), but he also liked the fact that if he messed up, he could just erase/undo the mistake and try again. The nice thing about his hobby that most of his sisters did have with theirs was that there was room for error.

She had never seen him so into something. Sure, Ace Savvy could've counted as his passion before, but he was never so dialed in as he was now with this. Was this all because they never gave him time to do this? Probably a dumb question, since his idea of a good time was just sitting in his room reading comics. Or maybe that was his way to unwind. Passions aren't exactly what some would call relaxing. Luan had a passion for comedy but had to perform a lot at birthday parties if she wanted it to take off into a legitimate business. Luna had a passion that needed a lot of practicing and, if it took off, traveling. Lynn had a passion, but it could put her in the hospital any time she played game or even practiced. Lincoln never really had that demanding passion the rest of his sisters had, probably because he was always so busy helping them out with something. It made her wonder something: were they holding him back from discovering his true potential by always asking for his help?

He finished right around the time dinner was ready, and the results spoke for themselves. It was a bit stylized, but that only added to its beauty. She looked like an actual princess with vines surrounding her (Lincoln thought it fit). "You like it?"

"Like it?!" She jumped off of the bed and ran up to him and climbed up onto his wheelchair again to give him a big kiss on the cheek. "ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou!"

He couldn't help but laugh. "You're welcome." He carefully tore the page out of the book and handed it to her. "Please be careful with this. I know I made it for you, but I don't want to see my work getting mangled."

"I promise Linky." She gave him another big hug, her cheek pressed against his. "You're so nice to me."

"Like any big brother would."

She let go and gently put the drawing to the side, looking to speak again. "…Listen, I know I haven't been the best at being good to you, so I promise. From now on, I'm going to be better."

He wasn't expecting to hear that from Lola. "You don't really have to change anything, Lola."

"No. You deserve a better little sister than I have been. From now on, I'm going to act like how a real princess should, with grace, with poise, but most of all, with kindness." She hugged him one final time before getting up and grabbing her picture. Lincoln knew she wasn't going to be convinced otherwise, so he just responded with "Then I look forward to it."

She took another look at the picture and it reminded her of why she wanted to work to be a better person. Even for a young child, she was quickly learning that words were hollow if action wasn't taken to back them up. "Again, Linky. Thank you for drawing this for me."

"You're welcome." She would've given him another hug, but she gave him so many already, she decided to just let him have his space. Instead, after taking her drawing to her room, she came back to clean up the tea set. Now was the best time for him to say thanks as well, not just because he enjoyed spending time with her, but because he now had her to always count on in his life, as well.

"Lola?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For being so great."

"Anything for you, Linky."

They both couldn't help it. They had to give each other another big hug.

* * *

**Lola may not have been the most consistent in this chapter, but considering I was writing her as a child that was simultaneously concerned for her brother, but also happy to just spend time with him, I felt it worked out well. The nice thing about this chapter was that I practically had the whole concept ready to go when I started writing it. I just needed to actually write it.**

**Speaking of chapter concept, I already know the sister I want to do next, but it may be a shorter chapter. Like this chapter, I have the concept prepared, but I have a feeling it's not going to be as long as the previous ones. My goal is 3-4k per chapter, but considering what I have planned, I have a feeling it may come out at around 2.5. Even so, I like what I have planned, and it's going to be a bit different than what I wrote for the first two sisters.**

**.**

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**Oh, and a big thanks to the Blues for allowing us to avoid yet another Boston sports championship. I can only enjoy this for so long before next season starts and I get to see if my Penguins continue to get worse because defense is apparently optional to them.  
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	7. Lana and Bad Memories

**I've come to the conclusion that I just suck with length perception. I think a chapter will be long, it comes out short. I think a chapter will be short, it comes out long. From now on, I don't think anyone should take my story predictions seriously. I'll actually know what's in a chapter when I actually write it.**

**Now, from pink and girly, we go to brown and greasy. The other twin, Lana. She's a sister that, if I'm being honest, I've started to notice a few negatives about. Yes, she's far nicer to him than a few other sisters, but when I started to really think about her, there are some things that stand out. I actually initially struggled with how her chapter would be written, but that struggle would actually turn into the foundation for this chapter. Strange, I know, but inspiration really can come from anywhere.**

**I do want to warn that this chapter takes on a stronger tone than the last few I've posted. It's not gonna be like Lori's or Lola's which leaned a bit towards fluff, so if you were expecting a consistent tone all throughout, I'm sorry to disappoint, but really, you can't expect ten people (technically twelve) to all hold similar attitudes after a traumatic experience. Some are going to take it worse than others.**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon.**

* * *

The conversation with Lola did nothing.

Lana was now laying in bed, her sister asleep in the bed sitting across the room, wondering if there was literally _anything _she could do for Lincoln. It pained her that she couldn't think of something because she always felt they had a decent relationship.

The two of them were close, especially before Lola started recognizing Lincoln's helpfulness, and at that time, she was easily in the top half of sisters he had the best connection with. She wasn't exactly near Lucy or Luna's level, but their relationship was solid. Like with being Lola's coach, he was the helpful big brother putting her in situations where she would either benefit from it (participating in a beauty pageant to get tickets to an amusement park) or where she didn't have to face many consequences (convincing him to help her save frogs from being dissected).

But it was in those caveats that lied the single biggest issue with their relationship: it was seemingly one-sided. It always seemed like either they both win from doing something or she wins while he has to suffer something negative. She was never put in a position where he would escape without issue while she would have to face the music. She never even tried to make it up to him. Lola, the girl in the family that was always known for her huge anger and almost demonic presence, did more to return the favor when she was helped than Lana did, such as bailing him out from getting blamed for costing the family a free, private pizza party. Her twin that people simultaneously hated and feared appeared to hav more respect for their brother's kindness than she did.

Not returning the favor meant that, when it actually came time to try, she drew a complete blank. The main issue was that Lincoln wasn't exactly someone that she could use her strengths to assist her. She could really only do things that would either help herself or help the whole family rather than just one person. He didn't have his own bathroom so her plumbing skills would be useless. She couldn't use her mechanical skills because he was too young to have his own car and he didn't have anything of that caliber to work on. The closest he had to something like that were his electronics, but she knew almost nothing about circuits and technology. That was Lisa's domain, whereas Lana was a handywomen, being most in her element with things like wood and combustion tech. The most she could say she did was build the ramps he used outside, but ramps could be bought. They were replaceable, expendable.

She had the idea of souping up his wheelchair, but that wasn't something Lincoln would've probably enjoyed, seeing as he spent his days healing in his room working on drawings on his tablet. Plus, he was confined to a really small space. The power she'd give him would be more suited for a racetrack, not a hallway that could be crossed with no more than twelve steps.

Things like mud pies were off the table, too, as well as giving him a pet. It was clear why he wouldn't want the former and while the latter may sound good on paper, there was no way he could properly care for them in his condition and they really only ever bonded with her, anyway. Oh, those animals. She still wondered if he still had the scars and bite marks, and more specifically, _that _bite mark on his left hand.

…She really did have nothing to offer. She had the nerve to call herself a close sister to him and she had nothing for him. She felt like she deserved to be slapped for this. All this time, Lincoln was making her life better every step of the way and yet she had squat in return? She lifted her head from the pillow, laid her head on the mattress, and just slammed the pillow down on herself. She felt nothing but anguish right now.

_I'm sorry, Lincoln. You deserve to have a much better sister than me._

While she wasn't expecting a good night's sleep, being a child, her body was attuned to falling asleep normally, so falling asleep and waking up, her brother was still on her mind. The dream she had that night wasn't really a nightmare so much as it just straight-up sucked. She was working on a random race-car (Bobbie Fletcher wasn't there) but it didn't seem like she was actually accomplishing anything. She was getting dirty, oil and grease covering her body, but the car wasn't improving at all on any level. Eventually, the entire engine just dropped from it's held position right onto the floor, followed by the wheels falling off and the gas leaking out. She just gave up at that point, threw her wrench and just slammed her body on the ground, staring up at the lights of the (seemingly infinite) garage as she took occasional glances at the car, reminding herself of how useless she felt.

She slept normally, though, and didn't wake up covered in sweat or anything. She just had her usual night's sleep interrupted by a sucky dream. Nightmares may not be fun experiences, but she honestly wasn't sure if she preferred a dream that scared her awake or one that just felt endless in it's crappiness, and at least nightmares, if not pleasant, are interesting.

In thinking about her dream, though, she did think of one thing that she might be able to do for Lincoln. It probably sucked and every single one of her sisters would beat her out if this were a competition, but she was desperate for something, and this was all she got.

Once everyone was done with their bathroom trips, Lana went in, stripped her clothes, and got a shower. She brushed her teeth and put a clean set of clothes on.

Breakfast had cycled through with everyone. Lincoln was the only one who hadn't come down because of obvious reasons. Everyone decided early on that any trip downstairs for Lincoln that didn't last for more than an hour was kind of a wasted trip. While no one would've complained if he requested to come down and join everyone, they all recognized that it was a bit of wasted effort, especially since he took to simply camping out in his room all day, rarely asking to join everyone in the living room. The only time he did was when it was to keep up family traditions like watching new episodes of _The Dream Boat _or family game night. Otherwise, he had pictures to draw, which is usually what he was doing when someone brought him his meal. For breakfast, that meal was pancakes and sausages, cooked up by ole' daddio before he took off to go to work.

Lana wanted to wait until he was finished eating before she went in. Not wanting this to appear that she felt she was more important, she gave him the courtesy of finishing his food. After waiting about an hour to make sure she went in when he was finished, she finally decided it was time to go in.

* * *

Kara: _So, did you see me on t.v. last night?_

Lincoln: …_No. I didn't even watch t.v. last night._

Kara: _But you said you sometimes saw your sister watching games. Wasn't she watching the Pistons game last night?_

Lincoln: _I wouldn't know. I've been camping out in my room for the past couple weeks, and I don't have a t.v. in my room._

Kara: _Oh…sorry. Well, the camera showed my dad and I at the game last night, so that was cool_

Lincoln: _I bet it was. Maybe I can find a clip of it._

Kara: _I'm not sure if you can. I only found out because my mom saw during a random cutaway._

Lincoln: _I guess I'll just take your word for it then._

Kara: _So how's recovery?_

Lincoln: _It's going good. Still guessing It's early, but my family's been good to me._

Kara: _Well, that's good. Anything lingering?_

Lincoln: _Only when I'm not taking my pain pills. What about you?_

Kara: _What do you mean?_

Lincoln: _Any…y'know…nightmares?_

Kara: _Oh, no. …Well, not frequently. I've only had two I think_

Lincoln: _Um…that still doesn't sound good_

Kara: _I'll be ok. My dad's helped me as much he could._

Lincoln: _Where they bad? Like worse than what you normally get?_

Kara: _Well…they both involved someone getting hit. The first one was me, but the second was you. I don't want to talk about this too much, if you don't mind._

Lincoln: _Oh no. That's fine. Sorry I asked._

His texting was interrupted by the sound of his door cracking open. It was Lana, which didn't register for no more than a second because she wasn't wearing her red hat. She looked upset about something.

Lincoln: _Hey, I think my sister needs my help. We'll talk later._

He didn't even wait for her response. This seemed more urgent.

"Hey Lana. What's wrong?"

"…Lincoln? Can…can I come in?"

"Yeah. Sure."

She closed the door and approached him. "Mind if I climb up with you?"

"No. Go ahead." She nodded and climbed up onto his lap. Like Lola, she practically burrowed into him, one side of her face buried into his chest while her hand clung to his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her in a loose hug. Also like Lola, she loved how cuddling him could help her feel, if not comforted, then, at least, stable.

Lincoln noticed something immediately about Lana: she didn't have her typical nature smell. With her time constantly rolling around in the mud and playing in the outdoors, she smelled like dirt on her best days and garbage on her worst days. Her spectrum usually ranged from mild stink to stay away. This wasn't one of those times. She smelled like…cucumber and green tea, the soap the family used, and her hair held the scent of coconut and guava.

Lana was clean, clean enough that the scent lingered. Usually, the moment the tap stopped, she booked it to the first mud puddle she could find. It's just how she was built. In this moment, however, she was completely free of dirt.

"Lana, haven't you played in a mud puddle yet?"

Her eyes, initially only slightly glassy, picked up on that before she closed them hard and pushed her head harder into his chest. "I'm sorry, Lincoln. This was the best I could think of."

"For what?"

"Being nice to you. I know it isn't anything good, and I'm sorry."

"Lana, what are you talking about?"

She pulled her head away from him so she could look at him. "I just…after seeing what happened to you, I wanted to do something nice for you, but I couldn't think of anything that you would like. But…this morning, I thought that, since you probably don't like me being dirty all the time…m-maybe I could do this."

While Lincoln certainly did appreciate it, she really didn't need to do this. He already told her at the pageant that she was perfect being the dirty, messy girl that she was. "Lana, you really didn't have to do this. I told you you're perfect as you are. Remember?"

"I do, but…I know you don't like being dirty like I do, and I really wanted to do something nice but there wasn't anything I could think of to do instead. You don't have a car or a bathroom for me to fix and I'm no good with computers like Lisa is." She was starting to cry. "I'm sorry. I know it's bad. I should've thought more about it."

Oh, did Lincoln hate himself for prioritizing his confusion over his appreciation. In fact, her getting clean for him was actually clever to him. Whereas the other two sisters did something that were well within their respective characters, this was a far cry from what Lana was normally like. That actually made it more notable and, really, sweeter than what Lola or Lori did. It showed a sense of maturity, which for her age, was rare. "Lana, please don't cry. I appreciate this. I really do. I was just surprised as all. I don't normally see you like this."

"But it's not me buying you new clothes or making you cookies. It's terrible…just like I've been to you."

"Lana, don't say that."

"It's true! Even Lola has been nice enough to return the favor. You've been so nice to me and I…all I've done is make your life worse."

"No, Lana! You haven't. That's not true."

"Lincoln, you got detention because of me. We almost didn't get those Dairyland tickets because of me. …You got sick because of me." She looked to his hand to see if it was still there. It was, the bite mark.

* * *

About a month and a half before the accident, Lincoln was sitting in his room reading comics when Lana came into his room. "Hey Linc, do you think you could do a favor for me?"

"What do you need?"

"I need someone to watch Bitey for me. He has a tendency to run off on his own and I need you to watch him while I'm giving hops a bath."

Now, Lincoln never really minded Lana's pets on the basis that she was the one who always took care of them, but he was always cautious around a couple of them, and Bitey was one of them. Neither Lana nor Lisa knew of the rat's origins and that Lisa just happened upon it one day. She was going to use it for scientific research, but Lana found out and saved him. From then on, she made herself the rat's de-facto owner and raised him.

That lack of knowledge made Lincoln worry that Bitey may be carrying something that could infect the family. "I don't know, Lana…"

"Please Lincoln? Do it for me?"

"I would, but I'm worried that-" He saw that she was using the classic puppy pout face used by all of the sisters when they wanted something. He was always a sucker to that.

With a sigh, he responded "Alright. Fine."

"Aw, thank you so much, Linc! He shouldn't be too bad. I just fed him a few chunks of swiss." She handed him the mouse before heading to his door. "I should be done in around twenty minutes." He really hoped that nothing bad would happen. The only confidence he felt was that if Bitey was carrying something, the family would've caught it by now. Besides, Lana handled the creature without gloves, anyway, and she was never sick. Maybe he was just overexaggerating.

For the first eighteen minutes, Bitey was fine. No issues were had. He kind of just scampered around Lincoln's bed while he continued to read the latest edition of Ace Savvy, one that didn't even focus too much on Ace, acting more as an origin story to Black Jack.

However, the rat eventually pulled off a few moves to make his way over to Lincoln's desk and was beginning to rummage around things he didn't want Bitey near. He jumped into action when the rat started scratching at a schoolbook he had lying out.

"Hey! Cut that out!"

He made a swift motion to grab the rat, with the rat struggling to free itself. Lincoln used his second hand to try and get a better hold on Bitey, but the animal retaliated by biting him. Lincoln reacted immediately to the pain, with Bitey escaping to go back to gnawing at the book.

"AHHH! Fffffffffff…Awh!"

He saw that the wound didn't look too bad. There was some blood, but it didn't look like a particularly bad bite. That didn't take away from the fact that he was still bitten, though, and he really hoped Lana would be back soon.

Thankfully, she returned with a freshly cleaned-up hops in her pocket. Lincoln quickly hid his hand behind his back to hide the injury. "Your services are no longer needed, Linc. I'm here for Bitey."

"Take him. He's on the desk." He wasn't about to try grabbing him again. Lana went over and took him without any difficulty.

"Thanks again for watching him, bro. Hope he wasn't too much trouble."

As she was leaving his room, he said "What? Of course, he wasn't. He was just fine." When Lana left his room and entered her own, Lincoln muttered "What kid wouldn't want to be bitten by a rat and possibly on the hook for fifty bucks?" He then went to clean his wound in the bathroom sink.

There didn't seem to be any lingering symptoms from the bite, but there was a subtle swelling in his fingers. Thankfully, fingers aren't exactly the first body part most people hone in on, so he wasn't worried about people seeing it. Plus, Lana was happy, and he always loved seeing his sisters happy, so all things considered, he thought he made out well. He just hoped that when it came time to return the book at the end of the year, they didn't charge him for the price of a new one. Thankfully, the scratch marks weren't even that deep into the pages.

Thinking he would be fine would come back to bite him, however (no pun intended). Two days after he was bit, everyone was downstairs eating breakfast. Lincoln hadn't come down yet, so someone was going to have to wake him. Lori decided to do it, being the one that held being on time to a really high standard. She was expecting him to still be asleep, but what was actually happening was far worse.

"Lincoln, will you wake up already? Everyone else is literally-" She stopped talking the moment she walked into his room and saw him. He was laying in his bed, violently shaking and letting out very unsteady breaths.

"Lincoln?!" She went over to check on him, and the moment she touched him, she could tell instantly that he was running a fever. "Oh my gosh!..." She had no clue what was happening to him, but she needed to get help.

She screamed for mom and dad, who came rushing up the steps to see their son in his terrible condition. "Lincoln!" Rita screamed at seeing him. "Lincoln? Sweetie? What's wrong?" He knew they were there, but his body was so taken over by his illness that he couldn't respond to them. Even something as simple as rolling over seemed impossible at the moment.

All of the sisters went to his room to see what was going on and every one of them were scared. They had no idea what was happening to Lincoln and all they could do is watch. By God's grace, the family had a member that was practically a walking John Hopkins Hospital and she immediately went to work on figuring out what was wrong with her brother. She put on some medical attire before kicking everyone out of Lincoln's room so no one else would get sick, either. She also insisted that they do not call an ambulance unless she specifically told them to.

The parents decided not to take the girls to school that day, knowing full well that they wouldn't be focused on anything but Lincoln's health, and neither felt like they could go into work that day, either. They all waited for Lisa to come back with the results. After a couple hours, Lisa came down to give her diagnosis.

"Good news, family. Lincoln should be able to survive this ailment." Sweet relief completely rushed over the family.

"So what was wrong with him?" asked Rita.

"It wasn't any kind of illness you all may be familiar with. In fact, this infection, in particular, seemed to have been the result of a mutation of the streptobacillus moniliformis bacterium."

"So…what does that mean?"

"Simply put, eldest sibling, it is the cause of rat-bite fever, and Lincoln was his with a pretty severe case of it. As I pointed out earlier, the bacterium present looked like they were mutations of their usual appearance.

All Lana needed to hear was rat-bite fever, with emphasis on the rat-bite part. _…Uh oh… _She was hoping it was from another rat, but she could only find out when Lisa gave the go-ahead.

"I administered some antibiotics and Lincoln has been returned to a more sensible state. The disease isn't contagious, so you are all free to interact with him, though I advise against physical contact, since this isn't a normal case of the disease and I can't be too sure."

His parents didn't need to be told again. Parental instincts were all but acting like an adrenaline boost and their main concern was making sure he was okay. They found him in his room simply resting, but unlike earlier that morning, he seemed to have control of his body. His parents entered his room and he sat up as best he could, nursing a headache.

"Hey sport. You feeling alright, now?"

"Not with my head, I'm not."

"Well, we're just happy you look like you can actually move around properly."

"Yeah. Sorry about this morning. I knew you guys were in here, but-."

"Don't apologize, honey. We're just happy that you're okay." Motherly care took precedent to potential illness and Rita hugged her son. There was one important question she had to ask, though. "Lincoln, do you have any idea how you might've gotten this sick?"

He had to be honest. Lying might've helped Lana, but Lincoln crossed the line of covering for his sisters when his health was involved. "I think I got it from Lana's pet rat, Bitey. She asked me to watch him and he bit me." He showed his hand up to them. "At first, I didn't think it was a big deal. Now I wish I did."

He felt his sisters were probably listening into the conversation, so Lana had to have heard. He imagined he was going to get an earful later on from her because, knowing their parents, she was going to try to explain her side of the story, Lincoln getting sick made all of her excuses completely void of reasonability, and she was going to be grounded and have her pet taken away.

In reality, however, Lana felt like she was watching a bridge collapse onto her, and her thoughts weren't about what might happen to Bitey, they were for Lincoln. Under typical circumstances, Lana would've done what Lincoln expected, but this wasn't one of those cases. She saw Lincoln that morning, shivering in his bed and unable to respond to anything his family said to him. She knew he was sick, but she wasn't sure what was happening. All she knew was that she hoped Lincoln would be okay. Seeing something like that at such a young age could be best described as scarring, but it was made all the worse by the thought that she had a hand in making him sick.

Lana did have a talk with her parents, but it wasn't defensive on her part to try and keep her pet. Instead, it was resigned. She simply sat there on her parents' bed and just let the words hit her. Both Rita and Lynn could tell that Lana was crushed (she told them straight away that she knew why they called her and her attitude was much more somber than the two adults were used to from their daughter), so they were a bit easy on her when it came to their handling of her. However, they weren't about to cover up the impact of the new rules they were about to put in place.

Wild animals were banned in the house. She could not keep the likes of El Diablo and Bitey inside of the family's home anymore. They had to be let loose for the safety of everyone inside. If she found them outside, she was free to interact with them, but she could not, under any circumstances, bring them home with her. She also couldn't bring new pets in that posed a danger to the well-being of the family. Only Hops and Izzy were allowed to stay, on account of their gentle natures and the lack of danger they posed.

Lana (and Lucy because of her bats, though she hid them in a dark corner of the basement) would feel the sting of that, later. In that moment, however, she felt way too guilty about her role in things to even care. What she cared about was her brother.

It was the one time she didn't care about what was going to happen to an animal.

* * *

What happened was going to stick with her forever. It was one of the first hard lessons she had to learn and a powerful wake up call for her. Now, here she was revisiting it, reaffirming her belief that she was the worst sister in the whole family. Lincoln's sisters did a lot to him over the years, but Lana had the notorious distinction of giving the family one of its biggest scares. She never found out how serious the illness was, but she had a feeling she didn't want to. Lisa became her new favorite person for a bit after that, because if she wasn't around…Lana didn't want to think about it.

"Lana…" She was so caught up in remembering everything that his voice scared her, but man, was it soothing after she came to her senses. "Just because you make a mistake every once in a while doesn't mean that I think you're a bad sister. You've done plenty to help all of us out. You're practically the only person we turn to anymore to fix the plumbing or Vanzilla."

"But I…" She sniffed quickly wiped her eye. "I can't help _you. _You've done so much for me, but I haven't done anything for you."

"Lana, we're just kids. You have plenty of time to make things up to me if you want to."

"No. I want to do that now. Every other sister can…but not me. I can't make you feel better like them." Between Luan telling Lincoln jokes to cheer him up and saving his butt from humiliation a few times, Luna playing music for him and making concerts epic to go to, Lynn ready to fight off bullies for him, Lucy making gifts for him, Lola baking for him and standing up for him, and Lisa healing his ailments, Lana felt like she was an outlier.

"Lana, look at me." He cupped her face in his hands so she could only look at him. "You aren't them, and you aren't a bad sister. You're a wonderful sister, and I'm happy you're who you are." He used his thumbs to wipe away a few tear streams on her cheeks. "I don't care that you haven't done much in return for me. All I care about is that what I do means something to you, and it always does."

She felt better hearing this, but it simultaneously also made her feel worse. Lincoln practically confirmed to her that he was a kid who deserved a lot, and she could give only so little. She kind of wished he was a bit meaner to her because then she wouldn't have felt so guilty. While she felt like she was ready to cry again, she was just too calmed down to try. She simply leaned her head back down onto Lincoln's chest and hugged him tight, Lincoln returning with a gentler hug.

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

"It's okay" he responded with only slightly louder.

She held onto him like this was their final moments alive together. Like many of the other sisters, so much of her life revolved around Lincoln helping her. He was a constant for her, always there when needed. She thought the worst he would have to suffer was an illness, but nothing could prepare her for watching him play hero and get hit by a car. Her whole world was changed, and she wanted to be better, but she didn't know how. All she knew was that Lincoln deserved something. And so, cleaned up and free of any smelly clothing, she clung to him, her insecurities of her place in the family now known by him.

Lincoln wasn't sure how long Lana was going to hold the hug, but he didn't dare call it off. He knew she needed this. Every once in a while, she whispered another "I'm sorry", and he always responded with "It's okay" in the most relaxed and loving way. He really was the master of helping his sisters feel better if their parents couldn't do it, and it never seemed to take much effort on his part. All it took was two simple words spoken so sweetly by a loving brother to remind them that things would get better.

It was all Lana needed to hear to help her smile again.

* * *

**Like I said, this one was going to be different from the others. Lana is a sister that I can take issue with from time to time. My main problem with her is that she almost never seems aware of the potential danger she can put others in. Her pets are the best example of this. We have no reason to believe that she got the snake (one with fangs) or rat from a pet store. That really can't be a good thing and it's entirely possible her family is in danger of getting infected with something because of it. It's something that I felt really needed to be given attention.  
**

**Plus, she doesn't have the best track record when it comes to making things up to Lincoln, from what I can tell. Her skill sets, for example (and actually, what became the basis for this whole chapter after a bit of brainstorming), can't really be used for Lincoln. It seems like it would be hard for her to do something nice for an individual in Lincoln's position. Although, something I've taken issue with is that she's never really tried. I went back to watch a few episodes that would help me gauge her character and the best I found was the hug she gave to Clyde in Baby Steps. Compared to what Lola did in Read Aloud, it just looks weaker in comparison. Please don't think I'm trying to bash on her because I don't like her (because I really do like her as a character), I just feel like there's more potential with her than we've been shown. It's why I gave her some insecurities to struggle with in this chapter, which I really do believe she could suffer from in a situation like this, feeling like the weak link when her sisters have passions that would aid them in cheering someone up while she could struggle trying to figure something out.**

**Next chapter may take some time. I'm on the fence about whether I want to do an intermission chapter or go to the next sister. I feel the themes of this chapter could serve as a good bridge to the next sister but I also really want to do another Lincoln-focused chapter, specifically how his condition will affect his social life.**

**Thanks for reading, and a big thank you for over ten thousand views! What I initially started as a side project has turned into my most successful story with no signs of stopping. Thanks again, and here's to more chapters coming soon!**


	8. Luna and Comfort

**This is the first case I've had where life got in the way of me writing this chapter. Between a couple family matters coming up, a semi-vacation that I didn't particularly like, and being on the worst sleep schedule I've been on in a while, writing wasn't high on the list of priorities. Now that all of that has been sorted, time for a new chapter.**

**For this chapter, I decided to go with the next sister, since the intermission would've really hurt the bridging theme idea I wanted to do. The next sister on my list is Luna, perhaps the most celebrated sister in the fandom. While she's definitely high on my list, I can't overlook a few details about her that I don't really like, which will be addressed here. I decided to throw in the characters who were hanging out with Sam during L Is For Love, as well, and since the wiki doesn't say that they do have names, I gave them ones I thought suited them, and so, I made the guy's name Brandon and the girl's name Sabrina. Hope everyone enjoys, and can I just say how weird it is to be posting content in a post-_Requiem _world? **

**Finally, I gotta give a huge thanks to Marius Wales for designing the new cover art for the story. Be sure to check out his work on DeviantArt if you love how it looks. I know I certainly do.**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Friday was Luna's favorite day of the week. Besides the obvious reasons of being the last day of the school week and having the weekend to look forward to, Fridays were also Luna's de facto music days. Typically, this day consists of school, then afterwards, practicing with her band, and ending with playing at small gigs anywhere throughout the city. Simply put, this was the day that made her feel the most alive, as she couldn't do gigs on Sundays and weekdays because they were school nights, and since Saturdays typically the time when big-name artists came to town, it was hard to find good places to play at, and those that were typically had higher operational fees. Hence, Friday became her day of magic.

The current time was 4:15, over an hour since school let out. Luna was hanging out with her band members Sam (fellow guitarist), Brandon (bassist, vocalist, and producer/sound mixer) and Sabrina (drummer) in Brandon's garage because what is a high school rock band without a garage. The band normally alternated between jamming for the sake of jamming and working to expand on a melody that thought would be good for a recording. It's part of the reason why they were at Brandon's today, as he was the only person that had a recording setup where multiple people could record instruments at the same time. That, and he had the most space to work with. Of course, while his parents had plenty of money to get by, they couldn't be considered rich, either, and so, he didn't have a recording studio they could use. Living in the digital age, that wasn't a problem, as they could just hook the mics and electric instruments up to a few audio interface boxes and record that way, while Sabrina used a v-drum kit. Kits like those originally got on the girls' nerves, mainly because they were more traditional in wanting to record live instruments, but they had to compromise since they didn't have a studio to work with, and considering Brandon was a force behind a DAW, he had his ways of making the drums sound as authentic as possible, so over time, the girls really didn't mind.

Currently, they were on break, having just messed with a melody Sabrina had thought up for the past forty minutes. Brandon and Sabrina were discussing the effects levels she wanted with the drums this time around (she was curious what they would sound like with different levels of reverb) while Luna and Sam were relaxing on Brandon's couch.

Luna wasn't exactly the most zoned-in today as she was on other days she was with the band. In fact, she was like this the whole day, in general. Her focus in class wasn't the greatest as she sat in each one rather somberly, holding her head up with her arm each time that was more a display of her being deep in thought rather than bored, and if she was sitting next to a window, it would only be made worse. Thankfully, she didn't have any tests or projects today, so nothing seriously jeopardizing to her grades was of concern.

Her thoughts were preoccupied with the man of the hour, himself: Lincoln. Things were going well with him at home, but she wasn't feeling too happy about how things were between them. There wasn't any bad blood between them, but she just didn't feel like she was doing enough for him. Of course, she was helping him whenever needed and she was his preferred sister for helping out when he needed to use the bathroom since he just felt all the slight bit less awkward around her than any of his other sisters (in large part because she actually had the decency to leave the bathroom, whereas several other sisters seemed so paranoid that something would happen to him if he wasn't always in their line of sight), but those weren't what Luna was thinking about.

She was thinking about how Lori had already taken him shoe shopping and how Lola had baked him cookies and had a portrait of her hung up in her room that was drawn by Lincoln. Last week, she found Lana practically taking up every part of Lincoln that wasn't in a cast as she cuddled with him when she went to tell them that lunch would be soon.

That made three sisters that had their promised one-on-one time with Lincoln, and really, Luna was a bit upset that she wasn't top three. She was in a similar situation to what Lana was feeling last weekend, a sense of not doing much to try and return the favor for him. The major difference was that Luna was just upset she hadn't done anything sooner and not sulking in her inability to do anything simple, but special, for him.

Both had similar context, though. Like Lana, Luna was a sister who thought of herself as fairly close to Lincoln, even going so far as to say that she was one of the absolute closest to him, and this wasn't a case like Lynn where she only says that because of poor logic that she convinced herself was true. Luna truly believed she was one of his closest, if not closest, sister. There was little she did in the way of making his life worse. They had their moments, such as when she threatened to punch him for agreeing with Luan on something or that time she blasted him out of her room with her amps…okay, maybe she wasn't the closest, but she felt she had pretty solid arguments for second or third. That first rock concert the two shared would forever be a defining moment not just for the two of them specifically, but between any two siblings in the family period. An absolutely magical night where they were allowed to even be up on stage with Smooch. That doesn't happen every day at every concert.

And when they weren't celebrating concerts, they just had a genuinely good connection with each other. She was a sister that rarely tried to threaten him or force him to do something for her that he didn't want to do. She even begged _to him _once, and the rest of the sisters pulled a stunt afterwards to guilt him into helping them, too, so Luna definitely stood as one of the nicest. Plus, the willingness to help went both ways, as Luna was nice enough to help him a few times, too, though his personal favorite request for her was to play "Man With The Plan" music, offers she was all too happy to accept.

All things considered, she was good to him most of the time, and it made her upset that she couldn't think of anything for him right off the bat (she didn't know about what Lana did or why, because if she did, these thoughts wouldn't have plagued her the way they were).

"Everything ok, Luna?" Sam's voice startled her, so deep in thought she was.

"Oh, uh…sort of."

"What kind of an answer is that?"

"Well…it's about Lincoln."

"What about him? You said he was doing well the last time we talked…Oh god! He didn't get any sort of infection, did he?"

"What? NO! No, no, no. Thankfully, no."

Sam let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness!" She took a deep breath and looked over at Luna, who looked unnerved now. "Um, sorry for freaking out like that."

"It's fine." Luna honestly wasn't sure if it was, now that she had it in her head that Lincoln may need to go back to the hospital at any point. But, it was hard for her to be upset with Sam, since she really didn't give too many details about Lincoln's condition when it was brought up in conversation. She took a breath and said "It's alright."

Sam then asked "So…how is he doing?"

Luna cocked her head really quick and said "Better every day, it seems like. And he looks to be taking things in stride, too, so at least he's not looking down all the time."

"Good to hear. Any updates you can give about his progress specifically?"

"I think I overheard mom and dad talking about how he could be getting his casts replaced soon."

"Sounds like the little guy's making good progress."

"Yeah…" Her smile went back to a frown about a second after she said that. Sam picked up on it and asked "What's the matter? Aren't you happy about that?"

"Oh, I am…but I don't feel like I've done much for him since he's been injured. I mean, I'm doing what I can to make his life easier. Things like helping him with steps, trips to the bathroom (and yes, it's made for some great bonding moments), but actually doing something for him, one-on-one? I just feel like I've been slackin'."

Sam simply nodded in understanding. "You two are fairly close, aren't you?"

She let out a breath through her nose. "Yeah…or…I'd like to believe we are."

This left Sam more confused than anything. "Why wouldn't you think so? Whenever you've brought him up, you usually had good things to say about him."

Going through Luna's mind, though, were thoughts focused on the two of them when the rest of their sisters were around. The two of them, by themselves, typically made for good times shared between them, but throw the whole collective into the mix and things get shaky. It goes back to the time she blasted Lincoln out of her room with her speakers and threatening physical violence against him (for her, a blue moon event).

"Luna?" She shifted her eyes to look at Sam but her expression didn't change.

"Mind if I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"When you're around certain people, do you…change? Like personally?"

"Um…I'm not sure I follow."

"There's this…'thing' that sometimes happens with me and the rest of my siblings where, if we're together, then all of a sudden, we start thinking the same way, and it usually comes at the little bro's expense." Sam was prepared to guess where this was going.

"One minute, I'm just my rockin' self, but throw a sister in and…I don't know, our minds just fuse." It was a family phenomenon that almost none of the sisters spared time to think about, but it was the single most powerful force the sisters had over them. They were so different by themselves, yet oh so similar when together, and no one was probably more aware of that than Lincoln, who voiced his grievances a few times, but it was always thought of as a temporary spike in anger. Looking back on those times, he really did have reason to be upset, and the sisters never did anything to consider that they had something to do with them. Soul-searching and self-reflection almost never happened in the family.

Because Sam only had one sibling, neither she nor her brother took part in a hive mind mentality with the other. Their craziness mainly came from the two of them having typical sibling squabbles (because Simon was younger, Sam liked to fling the 'elder sibling privilege' excuse around, which annoyed him to no end) or the two of them just having stupid things happen to them, either for no reason or because of their own ineptitude (the two were terrible at following directions when both of them were present). None of that came, at all, close to the life Luna lived at home, the Louds being notorious for having even mundane things turn into events that, if left unchecked, would probably appear on the Five O'Clock news. Such is the price to be paid for living in a family with double digit members.

Sam wanted to simultaneously be sympathetic but also direct, since she didn't see Luna's excuse to be a particularly good one. To Luna's credit, she seemed to understand what she was doing was wrong, but at the same time, how do you just lose all sense of individuality just by being around certain people? In a family like the Louds, it seems reasonable to think that someone would actually _want_ to try and stand out, so as to separate herself from the chaos. To Sam, Luna's argument just came across as flimsy.

"Luna, I can't say that something like that has happened to me, and honestly, I don't like the sound of it either. If that's what happens, something clearly needs to change." It was a direct blow at Luna that, despite not wanting to hear that, especially from Sam, she couldn't say was unwarranted. For such a close family, their worst moments, ironically, came when everyone was together.

"But…" The magic word in a bad statement that Luna was shocked to hear. "From what I can tell, you want that to happen, too." Luna nodded and Sam smiled, a reassuring one that put Luna at ease. "I don't think you have anything to worry about." Luna gave another nod and felt good about her chances of improving the situation.

"Okay. Thanks Sam."

"So, do you have something in mind you can do for him?"

"I was thinkin' of performing a few Smooch songs for him. I know he loves that band."

"Hey guys, you good to start up again?" they heard Brandon call.

"Yeah, we are. Be with you in a sec!" Sam said back. She turned her attention back to Luna. "If you think he'll like it, then I say go for it."

And with that, the two of them went back to continue practicing. Several hours later, everyone went their separate ways, and since Sam lived in a different direction to the Louds, she gave Luna a hug and they parted. They were let out at a time where the sun wasn't quite setting but close to it, making the sky awash with blue and gold, which Sam couldn't help but take in. Making it home, she saw Simon on the couch playing his Snap. She walked over to him and gave him a hug, making him cringe.

"What the heck are you doing?"

"Just appreciating the fact that you're still you."

* * *

Luna was prepared to burst into Lincoln's room with her guitar in hand. She had a playlist made up of several Smooch songs she thought he listened to more than others. She was also very excited, believing she struck gold with this idea and knew he would appreciate it. A couple minutes were spent rehearsing the songs to make sure she knew how they went, and now came time to execute.

She kicked his door open and said "Hey bro! You ready to-", cutting herself off when she noticed Lincoln wasn't sitting in his wheelchair in the middle of the room as she was used to finding him in. Instead, he was laying in his bed from the side that would allow him to stare out of the only window in his room. He wasn't drawing anything, his tablet not even on his person, instead resting on his desk. He wasn't listening to music, reading a comic, or doing anything she associated with him just lazing about.

He was just laying there, his hands behind his head, looking like he was depressingly in thought about something. No way was her big musical extravaganza for him warranted right now, and that didn't matter to her.

"Hey bro, you doin' alright?" She did something rare for her and placed her guitar off to the side. He simply looked at her with the most depressed look he had since he was in the accident. He didn't even speak, originally.

She brought herself down to his level on the side of the bed and said, gingerly "Linc, if you want someone to talk with, I'm all ears for you right now."

As much as he just didn't feel like it, he knew how persistent his sisters were and that not doing something was almost always the losing side. Plus, considering how much Lana improved after she talked with him, maybe talking to Luna about what he was feeling would help him, too, at least a little bit.

"Something that Lana told me got to me, I guess."

"What was it?"

While the family was fairly liberal with things like not respecting privacy, some things really were better left between two people, and Lincoln wondered if this was one of those times. After all, spilling the beans about future plans is entirely different to revealing someone else's insecurities. But at the same time, her insecurities were more translating into his insecurities, so as long as he said this the right way, there shouldn't be a problem.

"Lana was talking to me about a few things over the past week and…neither of us are particularly happy about my situation right now."

"None of us are, bro."

"But, something she was upset about reminded me of something I was always upset about." He grew nervous as he was getting closer to asking his big question.

"What?"

A breath later, and turned to look her right at her and asked "You guys think I'm a good brother, right?"

This question started to form in Lincoln's head from the moment Lana admitted her feelings of guilt to him. It wasn't a question that could be looked at from the surface, this question needed context. Being the only boy in the family, Lincoln was always going to be the person to stand out from the rest of the pack, but that didn't diminish his love for his sisters. Sure, they could get at each other's throats, sometimes, but that's typical of siblings their age. He never liked being the reason they were upset and would always figure out a way to fix things if he felt he was in the wrong.

But was that enough? Should he have known better than to make the mistakes that forced him to make up for everything he did wrong to begin with? He knew he had enough worth if Lana admitted how important he was in her life, but he felt a bit sketchy when it came to everyone else. He even wondered if the nice things Lola and Lori did for him were to just call things even or if they were done out of pity. Looking at things rationally, that was absolutely a stupid thought, since Lola and Lori clearly showed their appreciation for him, but when it comes to instances of lacking self-worth, rational isn't usually brought into the equation.

Luna was thrown yet another hard question today and this one pretty much flipped every single insecurity she was feeling about herself that day. She thought she wasn't doing enough for him and here he was thinking he wasn't doing enough for any of _them. _Sadly, it also affirmed her thoughts, too, with that sister mentality she was talking to Sam about looking all the worse right now. If he was feeling like this, then she felt like she was partly to blame for it.

Trying to mediate a mixed feeling of sadness and frustration, she looked at him and gave him a sincere answer. "I promise you are, little bro."

"Are you sure? I'm not messing things up too much?"

She was prepared to give an aggressive answer since she didn't like that he still needed convincing, but she caught herself, remembering the amount of self-doubt she was going through, too. If she tried to tell him he was wrong for thinking that, she'd be a hypocrite.

"I guess both of us need to be convinced we're not that bad."

She got up and sat on his bed with him, moving back far enough so that her back was leaning against the wall, her left leg curled up on his bed. Then, she laid his head on her right leg, her hand lazily moving through his head.

"Linc, I'm not just saying this to make you feel better. You are not messing up more than you should. Not by a long shot."

He took a breath and said "Thanks." Whether he was convinced or not was hard to determine.

"I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way."

"Usually, you're pretty good." Why did he have to say 'usually'? "And hey, what you said before, about both of us being convinced, what did you mean by that?"

She actually hoped he would ask. "It's 'cause I think I'm in the same funk you are."

He shifted his head to look at her. "What do you mean? What are you going through?"

"Pretty much the same thing you are, bro. Mind if I ask how good of a sister I've been to you?" Her face was a bit unsettling to him. He saw a similar one when she admitted to thinking that Sam wasn't into her, only this one was, somehow, filled with even more depressed resignation. For Luna, failing as a family member was much worse than giving up a crush.

He turned his head back to facing out the window and said "If you want me to be completely honest with you, seeing you team up with the rest of the sisters is when you get on my nerves the most. I said you were usually good and I stand by that…but I can't lie and say you've been the best."

"So, what am I doing wrong?"

"Whatever it is that makes you guys gang up all the time. Really, just having that happen _to me _is what I'm the most annoyed about, and that goes for everyone."

"Yeah, I can't lie. We've come together over you too many times."

He turned back to face her. "But how come you do it, too?"

There's only one other non-infant sister he would ask this to because this question proves that Lincoln sees them as one of the nicest to him in the family. It also shows how hurt he feels seeing her all but forget who she is to join the rest of his sisters against him. Luna meant a lot to Lincoln and when it was her against him, an unpleasant situation would only be made worse.

As much as it pained her to say it, she told him "…I don't have an answer."

He could see the guilt she was dealing with and was starting to regret being so direct with her. He asked what he felt needed to be ask, but the questions hurt like heck. His brotherly instincts kicked in and he felt the need to apologize for making her upset.

He reached his arm over and grabbed her arm, telling her "…Sorry for making you sad."

A feint smile showed, appreciating his apology, and she responded "Don't be. I fully deserved it."

"I just don't understand why you would do something like that. You're so awesome, but things like that just get to me from time to time."

Luna knows she just heard him say a magic word. "You think I'm awesome?"

"Of course, I do."

How could Luna not smile at that? She practically yanked him up into a tight hug as she held onto him like a little girl that was just given her missing doll. This made Lincoln laugh since he was not expecting this response at all, especially from Luna. This seemed more like something the twins would do if they were her age. He felt a kiss near his hair whorl and said "Feeling's mutual."

It had been a while since he got this kind of affection from her. While most saw Luna as the fun-loving rocker, one of her quirks was how affectionate she could be with those she loved. She had a very motherly aura that only people close to her would know about or see. She was a sister many of the younger ones would turn to when they needed to be comforted. It helped that out of all the older siblings, she had the most well-developed personality to handle those matters, as Lori and Lynn were generally seen as aggressive, Leni couldn't be trusted to fully understand certain kinds of emotional turmoil (things like nightmares and bouts of depression), and there was this perceived unhinged aspect of Luan that made the younger siblings generally stay away from her.

That was always for comfort, though. Simply showing affection out of happiness was rare, especially with Lincoln. When they were younger, Luna showed the same kind of affection to Lincoln, probably hugging him the most out of any sister until the twins came along. She remembered cases where he would do something that was so nice and/or adorable that she was just wrap her arms around him in, pretty much, the exact same way she did just now. It was her way of telling him how much she loved him, and now, even after the years have past and they each became their own person, she couldn't help to do it again.

Eventually, she let him go to let him rest on her leg once more. "So, just to be clear, while I can't speak for everyone, I think you _are_ a good brother."

"Thanks, and I promise you that I think you're a good sister." He felt her hand be a bit more aggressive with his hair when he said that. What started out as a simple attempt by Luna to do something for her brother turned into both of them reassuring the other of their worth to each other. Before she entered his room, there was this nagging thought in the back of her mind that her musical stunt wasn't going to be enough for Lincoln, and really, she was kind of glad she didn't go through with it when she saw him like he was. It allowed both of them to get rid of a couple demons that were haunting them, and it allowed them to grow closer than ever. An already strong bond was made even stronger, now.

Looking at him, it was hard not to see the casts on his legs, the closest she had ever come to losing him. Luna, along with every other sister, was going to be kicking herself for a while since it took watching Lincoln get put in the hospital for a shift to finally be made in the family dynamics. He rarely got the appreciation he deserved for being the single biggest constant the family had ever known, let alone any situation where the sisters weren't either exploiting him or being smug about his help. But, God dealt them this hand, and Luna was just happy she was able to figure out what she was doing wrong and fix it. Lincoln _was _important to her, and she needed him to know, just as much as she needed to hear it from him.

While she still had her guitar laying in the room, she felt it best to not go along with what she originally planned, even with their elevated moods. Plus, Smooch would match the atmosphere currently in the room, with the rays of the sunset shining through Lincoln's bedroom window as he laid there on her leg with a peaceful look on his face. She could get up to get a speaker to play some smooth jazz, but she didn't want to ruin the moment, not until they were called for dinner. So instead, she thought up a song she remembered Brandon listening to when they were on break one day, a traditional choir song that was from a video game she knew nothing about.

The most audible thing in Lincoln's room was Luna's slow, soothing voice as she hummed _Will The Circle Be Unbroken. _Much like Lincoln, she closed her eyes, leaned back, and felt content to just enjoy the moment.

Despite the situation and how they were feeling when she first entered his room, it had been a while since they felt this at peace.

* * *

**One of the things that I think separates me from other members of the fandom is that I'm not afraid to look at the flaws of the more popular characters in the show, as was shown in the last chapter with Lana. Every character in this show has flaws that I don't like about them (and not in the typical human way, as the flaws usually come across as unnecessary to the character, and in the worst cases, OOC) and I'm not someone that can look past things like that. With that, Luna can sometimes be the single most frustrating character for me to watch, and it's always when she's with the other sisters. The sister mentality is easily the worst aspect of the show when blown up to unnecessary levels (hello Sleuth of Consequences and those two episodes that shall not be named in the hopes of lowering the risk of infection) and when Luna's involved in it, that's when I get the most annoyed, since she really has no reason to act like that other than because muh humor and status quo. Connect enough dots, and I wouldn't be lying if I said that this story, in general, exists because of my distaste for moments like that from all the sisters.**

**And on the subject of bad characterization, Lincoln isn't coming across like as St. Lincoln, is he? I'm trying to make him as human as I feel is appropriate for him in this story, and I just want to make sure he isn't coming across as, basically, better than everyone else in the world.**

**Next chapter will be the intermission chapter as Lincoln is given the go-ahead to return to school and see his friends, in person, for the first time since everything happened. I can't promise a good upload schedule from now on since college is starting up again for me in a couple weeks, but I'll try to find the time and drive in between coursework to write some good content for you guys. For now, I'm going to take a little bit of time to enjoy summer as my move-in date grows ever closer.**

**Thanks for reading, everyone. **


	9. Back to School, and Fun With Friends

**I know this chapter is short and I know it won't make up for me no updating this story in so long. I'm sorry.**

**Disclaimer: The Loud House and characters belong to Nickelodeon and Viacom.**

* * *

Lincoln looked in the mirror as he tried to convince himself that today wasn't going to be such a big deal. It was just a school day, nothing more. It just so happened that this day was going to be his return to school since the incident and he was still in a wheelchair.

Yeah, to say he was lying to himself would be an understatement. The truth is that he never felt so nervous going to school in his life, and that included days he had big tests to deal with or projects due.

There was a combination of fear and anticipation as he wondered how everyone was going to react to his predicament. He knew his classmates had to have seen what happened on the news by now, but he wanted the collective memory of it to disappear. If anything was on his side, it's that big news stories tend to disappear after about two weeks in everyone's mind, so he hoped that was enough time for the situation to cool. The last thing he wanted was attention, as any semblance of a normal day at school would be obliterated.

"Ready to go, champ?"

"Is 'no' a good enough answer, dad?"

Lynn Sr entered his son's room and went up to him.

"I know you're worried, sport, but this had to happen at some point. You couldn't expect we just keep you here forever."

"I know. I know. I just…I'm worried about what's going to happen."

"I understand, but Clyde will be there with you, right?"

"Yeah."

"And your other friends, too?"

"Yeah."

"Then I think you should be just fine today."

It was a hard sell for Lincoln, but he appreciated the effort. Nothing could shake the possibility of everyone seeing him in a wheelchair and the memory comes flooding back to them and they swarm him.

But, whatever was in store for him, he was gonna have to accept it, regardless. That didn't mean he didn't want to take many chances, though. It's why he insisted on getting up so early in the first place, so that he could make it to school before everyone else could, preventing the worst-case scenario of a stampede.

His father wheeled him to the top of the steps before parental teamwork took over as Rita carried the wheelchair down while Lynn had Lincoln in his arms. After putting him back in his chair, they brought him to the van and took him to school.

He made it a point when he got to school to engage with Ms. Johnson. That way, anything she felt necessary to discuss with him would be one-on-one, instead of the class overhearing anything. His parents, meanwhile, would talk to Principle Huggins to make sure there was no sort of celebration put in place by the school for Lincoln. He made it clear to them that he didn't want much attention to come out of what happened.

Rather than drop him off, the parents parked the van and helped wheel Lincoln to his classroom. One of the other things they wanted to discuss with the teachers was the course of action they had in mind for Lincoln to get around school, which summed up to 'Clyde will be the one to push him wherever he needs to go'. At least he didn't have to worry about going between floors, and he had an excuse to avoid gym class.

"Ah, Lincoln. Welcome back!" Ms. Johnson announced when the family came in.

"Hi, Mrs. Johnson," he replied, continuing the long-standing tradition of giving her the wrong title.

"And Mr. and Mrs. Loud. So wonderful to see you again."

"It's great to see you, too," Rita replied.

"I imagine you want to hear what I have in mind for Lincoln returning today."

"That and some things regarding him getting around."

Lincoln probably should've been paying attention to what they were saying, but he was too distracted about what it felt like being back in school. It felt so strange being back after all those weeks. Before, this was just another place he had to go. Now, it was yet another step in his life returning to normal.

Reflecting on these weeks made him realize how fast everything was going, too. Just last week, he made his first trip back to the doctors since getting hit. His legs were making progress but needed about another two weeks before they could switch him over from wearing casts to wearing walking boots. His back was making good progress, too, though the combination of injuries made it clear his rehab was going to, and this is putting it lightly, suck. He wasn't just going to have to ease into walking again, he was going to have to essentially learn how to hold his own body weight up, again. It wouldn't be fun, but if it meant walking again, he'd do it.

At least he got to avoid testifying. The family found out that Mr. Braunen took a plea deal and was sentenced to one year in prison and lost his driver's license. It was inevitable that someone was going to be injured when he was driving his car that day, and because it was a minor that got injured, the DA's office wanted the man put in jail for at least a year. This sent conflicting emotions through Lincoln, who didn't want the man to get severely punished, but in the eyes of the law, forgiveness never means forgetting.

"Anyway, that's all," he heard Ms. Johnson say, signifying the end of the talk. He was a bit afraid of how much work he was going to have to handle, but considering he had Lisa for help, he wasn't too worried about catching up. He just hoped the amount of time he missed didn't automatically give him a one-way ticket to summer school.

"Great! Son, we'll see you after school."

"Okay, dad."

"Bye sweetie."

"Bye mom."

Ms. Johnson got up from her desk and went to Lincoln.

"Do you need me to help push you to your desk?"

"No, it's okay. I can do that."

"Well then, I'll show you the new spot I made for you. I'm sorry that it's in the back of the room, but considering your parents told me that you would prefer a less obvious spot while your legs healed, I decided to try and accommodate for that."

The chair to the desk was simply moved out of the way so Lincoln could wheel himself up to it without any trouble. While others would see it as a pain to be in the back of the room, Lincoln appreciated it. At least, everyone's eyes wouldn't be focused so much on him, now.

After some time passed, Clyde showed up.

"Hey, Lincoln!"

"Hi, Clyde. Thanks for coming in, at this time."

Lincoln was hoping that, with Clyde there, he would feel better prepared to handle the crowd, if only because he liked having someone next to him when it came to pressure situations.

"No problem, buddy, though if you don't mind me saying, don't you think you are being a little too anxious about this?"

"I haven't seen anyone here for months, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows about the news story. I have no idea what they are going to do, so I'm just expecting the treatment I usually get from my sisters."

Not exactly the soundest of logic, but it was logic, nonetheless. Clyde's sessions with Dr. Lopez did reveal to him that trauma can cause people to expect the worst case in even the most mundane of situations. Clyde probably knew better than anyone what it was like to be paranoid for no reason.

They heard the bell ring, signaling that everyone who got to school early could now start going to homeroom. Lincoln braced himself for the worst, everyone kid rushing in to greet him with panicked words and talks about how worried they were about him.

Instead, only three kids walked through the door, at the beginning, and rather than rush at him, they just responded happily to his return.

"Hey! What's up, Lincoln?"

"Good to have you back, Dude!"

"Hope you're doing alright."

Lincoln let out a sigh of relief, and then started talking to the kids.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Nice to see you guys, too."

"We saw what happened on the news. Sounded scary."

"Yeah, it was, but I'm starting to heal, now. Shouldn't be too long before I get out of these."

Lincoln continued engaging with the kids as, one by one, each kid in his class came in, with the group never really growing above five people surrounding him.

Lincoln was starting to feel much more at ease about the situation as his biggest fear was resolved. Now, he could move on to what would be the tedious part of the day, constantly telling everyone about what happened to get him in this situation.

Before he knew it, the bell rang, signifying the start of the school day.

"Good morning, class. As you all are aware by now, Lincoln has returned to us. I know all of you are going to want to talk to him, but you will have to wait until lunch to do that. We got a busy day ahead of us. Let's get right into it."

The morning was an uneventful combination of English, Math, and Spanish. Once the afternoon rolled around, he'd be in for science and history. Throughout the whole morning, he never caught anymore than a couple eyes on him at once, and they were sparse as to how often he saw them. There was a certain oddity to how calm the students around him were, as he was fully expecting a stampede from them regarding his return. This either meant that he wasn't as popular as he was expecting to be, or that he was gone for so long that the anticipation for his return flamed out and he probably would've gotten it had he come back when it was still fresh on everyone's minds.

The big change for him in school was the obvious help he would need in getting a few things done. That's what Clyde was there for, as he was in charge of getting papers from the front of the room, sharing his books, and anything else he felt Lincoln might need help with. Coming from a house with two overbearing fathers, he might have gone a little overboard with how much he helped Lincoln, so much so that at one point, he asked Lincoln if he needed help writing down the answers to a few math problems in his notebook, but Lincoln still appreciated the help.

As the day wore on, he was coming ever closer to lunch, and he was excited for that. It meant he could finally be reunited with Liam, Rusty, Zach, and Stella, meaning the crew would be complete, once again. Math dragged on as Mrs. Johnson droned on about numbers and multiplying and fractions and…could it be lunch, yet?

Once that bell rang, though, the anticipation escaped him in an instant, and as soon as Clyde grabbed hold of the handlebars on the wheelchair, he floored it towards the cafeteria, probably setting a new record, on foot or in a wheelchair, for the fastest anyone's ever made it there. Of course, that speed meant he was the first one there, and he had to wait while everyone else filed in. Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait for his lunch to come, since his father packed him a lunch. The family didn't want Clyde spending any money on Lincoln for lunches, not when he was already helping out enough, as it was.

As the students filed in, he watched, waiting for the people in question. Finally, a mess of orange hair came in, followed by tall, black hair. Behind them was glasses with freckles, and a bowl cut with a tooth gap.

"Hey, guys!"

They all turned towards the table.

"Lincoln!" they cried in unison.

They ran to the table to surround Lincoln, giving him high-fives and elated greetings.

The crew was back together.

* * *

"And actually, I was able to finally get a drawing kit."

"And what have you been drawing?" asked Stella.

"Really, anything I think looks cool. I like to draw buildings, cars, and a few different kinds of animals. I've also done a few fan comics for Ace Savvy, too."

"Have you decided to publish any of them?" asked Clyde.

"I-I've thought about it, but I'm nervous. What if people don't like it and only have bad things to say about it?"

"Your best effort isn't enough?" asked Liam.

Lincoln responded with an annoyed stare.

"Have you seen the works that some fans have released?"

That's all he needed to say before everyone started thinking about terribly written or horribly drawn comics and stories that have come out from some of the fandom. Just because it was the artist's best effort didn't mean the work itself was actually good.

"You make a good point," Liam responded.

Like he expected, the conversation with his friends started with the ever-famous question 'Where have you been?'. After explaining everything and the inevitable 'I'm glad you're okay' lines came up, he got to talk about the fun stuff that has happened since then, starting with the gifts he got in the mail.

"Anything else cool?" asked Zach.

"I did get a sweet drone that someone sent me. It's small, but it's so much fun to fly around. It also has a camera built into the controller so I can see where it's going. It is so much fun being able to fly that thing from inside my small room. I feel like I'm from the Air Force when I fly it."

"You get to imagine hitting the bad guys with missiles, huh?" said Stella.

"Yup. You guys should come over, some time. I have a couple spares, and with the walkie-talkies I have, we could make a really fun game out of it."

Variations of 'heck yes' came from his friends.

"Anyway, going back to my drawings, I actually brought the tablet with me. Care to see some?"

Clyde stopped anyone from answering it by putting his arms out.

"Before we do that, I think it's time we finally started with our daily lunchtime trade-off. Everyone, please put your bargaining chips on the table."

"Uh, Clyde. I have carrot sticks, not chips," said Zach.

"Yeah, and I have biscuits n' jam."

"What kind of jam?" asked Stella.

"Cherry-flavored," responded Liam, knowing what this meant to Stella.

She took a quick breath in.

"That means it's homemade, right?"

"Darn tootin'."

"Alright, alright, alright. I get it. Either way, put what you plan to wager down. As the official trade commissioner, it's my job to rate how each item stacks up with one another."

After everyone put their items down, Clyde ranked them from most to least valuable.

"Okay, everyone. You may now begin."

From there, the group went into a frenzy of bartering and trading that would put a used car dealership to shame.

* * *

"Commander Lincoln, this is Sergeant Clyde. Do you copy, over?"

"Roger, Sergeant. I read you loud and clear."

"Any sign of intruders?"

"Negative."

Clyde walked around his front and back yards, looking out for any signs of the "intruders." Lincoln was inside Clyde's room, waiting for the signal that he should release the drone."

"Commander Lincoln?"

"Go ahead, Sergeant."

"I have found something, rather unusual."

"What is it?"

"Some flattened grass in the shape of a footprint. I think we have visitors here in the backyard."

"I'm on it."

Lincoln put down the walkie-talkie, booted up the drone, and flew it outside, looking for any signs of "the enemy."

"Find anything, yet?"

"Not yet, Sergeant. Just be patient."

He flew the drone around for about a minute before he caught a glimpse of red hair hiding in the bushes.

"Enemy spotted! Attack the bushes!"

"Roger that."

"Clyde pulled out a squirt gun and started firing in the bushes, forcing the four enemies to show themselves."

"Give it up, team red. We've found you."

The figures emerged from behind the foliage.

"Sure, you have found us," replied the woman. "But you haven't caught us, yet."

They got into an action pose.

"R, L, you take on the water soldier. Z, you and I are on drone duty."

"Understood, S," replied Z.

Everyone leapt into a combat-ready pose, ready to fight. Clyde moved first, and his attackers came at him. S and Z made a swipe at the drone but couldn't reach it. They reset, ready for the next chance to try and snag it.

…Until it died, mid-flight, and crashed.

"Dang it!" cried Lincoln. "Sorry, guys! Batteries died!"

Everyone gathered around Clyde's bedroom window.

"You didn't replace them before you came over?" asked Stella.

"I did, but I guess they already died."

"Seriously?" asked Rusty. "Just how bad are the batteries that your parents buy?"

Lincoln replied as he took off the plate off of the holder on the back off of the drone.

"Well, they _are _the cheap dollar store brand, so…"

"Yup. That explains it," Liam deadpanned.

"Don't worry, guys. My dads always have a stash of AA batteries at the ready. The premium kind, too, that can last several months before needing replaced."

While Clyde went off to fetch the batteries, Stella got the team to regroup.

"Alright, boys. For as much fun as that was, I still think our poses could use a little more work."

"Too much karate?" asked Liam.

"It's not really that. It's more like I couldn't really take us seriously. I saw Clyde trying to hold back on laughing. Rusty, try a pose that's lower to the ground. Liam, a Hadouken pose really only works if you're using it for an actual move. Zach, I think it might be better if you incorporated fists into your stance."

"Guys? Just a quick, though, but are we really sure it makes sense for us to go four against two?"

"Lincoln, you know the rules. Split it up so that it is more two against one. Plus, with you flying the drone, it should help even the odds between us."

"Even if Clyde and I hadn't lost the two rounds we've played, I still think it isn't as fair as you make it sound, especially when one of the two CAN'T MOVE!"

He pointed right to his legs.

Stella pondered this.

"Good point. How about this, then? We swap the teams around, three against three, and see which combination gives us the most even match-up?"

"I like it," said Rusty.

"Sounds good to me," said Liam.

"Let's do it," replied Zach.

"Then it's settled. Once Clyde comes back, we'll have Zach join you two to see how our two teams do."

"Got 'em," said Clyde, holding the batteries in the air.

After explaining the new system to Clyde, and Lincoln replaced the batteries, the two teams went back at it.

Several rounds took place before they found that the most balanced teams were Lincoln, Clyde, and Rusty, against Zach, Stella, and Liam. Sometimes, Lincoln's team would be able to drive the foe back, while other times, Stella's team managed to catch the drone and tag out their opponents.

Lincoln was enjoying himself through every round of the game they played. No big shenanigans, no over-the-top excitement. Just six kids playing games. For all of the excitement and fun the kids had, it also felt peaceful, a sense that everything was returning to normal for all parties involved.

Things really were looking on the up and up.

* * *

**For those wondering, my biggest reason for not updating this past year was a lack of interest in the series. Once October came around, I kind of just stopped caring about the series. My apologies, but I didn't want to rush a chapter out when I had no passion to write about it.**

**This was a bad chapter for that to happen, anyway, because I wanted this one to be much simpler than the ones involving the sisters. I know episodes involving anyone but the family isn't particularly popular. I know. I'm one of those people.  
**

**I want to apologize again. Hopefully, with an idea I have in mind regarding Lucy, the flame might come back.**


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